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GIFT  OF 
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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2008  with  funding  from 

Microsoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/clashofnationsitOOjohnrich 


\  ;.,| 


THE  CLASH  OF  NATIONS 


THE  CLASH  OF  NATIONS 

ITS    CAUSES    AND    CONSEQUENCES 


An  authentic  narrative  of  the  immediate  and  remote  causes  of  the  war,  with  a 

descriptive  account  of  the  countries  involved,  including  statistics  of 

armies,  navies,  aeroplanes,  dirigibles,  &c.,  bfc.    Profusely 

illustrated  from  latest  photographs,  engravings y 

diagrams  and  maps 


Edited  by 

ROSSITER  JOHNSON,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

Editor  of  ''  Great  Events  in  History,"  "Appleton's  Encyclopcedia,"  &c. 


NEW  YORK 

THOMAS   NELSON    AND    SONS 

LONDON         EDINBURGH         TORONTO         PARIS 


D5il3 


For  much  of  the  recent  and  accurate  information  in  this  volume  the 
writers  are  indebted  to  Nelson's  Perpetual  Loose-leaf  Encyclopaedia 


Copyright,  iM4,  by 
THOMAS  NELSON  &  SONS 


^ 


GIFT  OF  ^^^ 


Illustrated  with  copyrighted  and  special  photographs  from  American  Press 
Association,  Bain  News  Service,  M.  E.  Bemer,  Brown  Bros.,  Internatoinal  News 
Service,  Press  Illustrating  Co.,  Paul  Thompson  and  Underwood  &  Underwood 


THE    FRANCO-GERMAN    FRONTIER. 


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THE  FRENCH  AND  GERMAN  FRONTIER  FORCES. 


\By  ptrmission  of  the  lUuitrattd  London  Neva. 

This  map  shows  the  diqxmtion  and  streng:th  of  the  forces  which  in  nonnal  times  guard  the 

Franco-German  frontier. 


INTRODUCTION 

The  Roman  historian,  Livy,  begins  his  account  of  the  Second 
Punic  War  with  this  declaration:  "I  am  about  to  describe  the  greatest 
of  all  the  wars  that  ever  were  waged."  Doubtless  he  told  the  truth  as 
it  was  in  his  time ;  but  if  he  could  revise  his  book  to-day  he  would  open 
it  with  a  different  sentence.  The  solemn  duty  of  narrating  the  great- 
est of  all  wars  that  ever  were  waged  now  devolves  upon  our  journal- 
ists, and  a  few  years  hence  it  will  tax  the  powers  of  the  ablest  historian 
that  the  world  can  produce. 

Whatever  may  be  the  prejudices,  the  opinions,  or  the  original  na- 
tionality of  an  American,  he  cannot  seriously  consider  this  tremen- 
dous, complicated  conflict  without  feeling  that  he  is  a  citizen  of  the 
world,  profoundly  affected  by  European  wars  and  sincerely  desirous 
of  world-wide  peace. 

This  book  is  intended  to  enable  the  reader  to  scan  the  daily  bulle- 
tins with  something  of  an  intelligent  understanding  of  the  despatches. 
No  one,  as  yet,  can  tell  him  how  it  will  all  end ;  but  we  endeavor  here 
to  tell  him  why  it  began ;  to  indicate,  as  nearly  as  possible,  the  various 
ends  that  are  striven  for;  and  to  show  him  the  resources  and  imple- 
ments that  come  into  play — many  of  them  for  the  first  time.  There  is 
no  intention  here  of  according  praise  or  blame  to  any  of  the  combat- 
ants, or  expressing  any  opinion  as  to  the  merits  of  the  conflict  or  the 
truth  or  falsehood  of  those  that  wage  it.  We  hope  we  have  presented, 
simply  and  clearly,  as  many  of  the  pertinent  facts  as  our  space  allows 
— only  adding  that  when  Byron  expressed  his  enthusiasm  for  "Livy's 
pictured  page"  neither  he  nor  that  brilliant  historian  ever  had  seen 
such  pictured  pages  as  these.  R.  J. 


\ 


921585 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER 

I.     The  Immediate  Causes  of  the  War  . 
II.     The  Original  Causes — Boundaries  and  Races 
III.      Mobilization      ...... 

IV.     The  New  Warfare    ..... 

V.     Military  Implements  of  War  . 
VI.     Warships  and  Naval  Implements  of  War 
Vll.      Coast-defenses  and  Fortifications  . 
VIII.     Aircraft  and  Wireless  in  War 
IX.     European  Wars  Since  1815: 

The  Greek  War  for  Independence  (1821) 
The  Insurrection  in  France   (1830) 
The  Revolutionary  Movements  of  1818 
The  Crimean  War  (1854.-'55)      . 
The  Franco- Austrian  War  (1859) 
The  Liberation  and  Unification  of  Italy  (1859- 
The  Schleswig-Holstein  War  (1864) 
The  Prusso- Austrian  War  (1866) 
The  Franco-Prussian  War   (1870) 
The  Russo-Turkish  War  (1877-78) 
The  Greco-Turkish  War  (1897) 
War  in  the  Balkan  States  (191 2-' 13) 
X.     Countries  at  War  and  Involved: 
Austria-Hungary 
Belgium 
France 
Germany 

The  British  Empire 
Russia 
Servia 
Montenegro 
Albania 
Italy   . 
Japan 
XI.     The  Hague  Conference 
XII.     The  Effect  of  the  War  on  the  Western  World 
XIII.     State    Papers   and   Official    Correspondence 
Chronological  List  of  Events  .... 

2 


'60) 


page 

11 

31 
41 
65 

71 

87 

107 

115 

131 
133 
135 
145 
149 
151 
161 
165 
169 
185 

191 
196 

213 
225 
243 
275 
307 
343 
361 
364 
365 
367 
375 
379 
385 
403 
414 


SYNOPSIS  OF  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER    I.— THE    IMMEDIATE  CAUSES  OF  THE  WAR 


Assassination    of    the   heir    apparent    to    the 

throne   of  Austria. 
First     blow     of     the     international     conflict 

struck   at   Servia. 
Austria's  long-cherished  design  to  extend  her 

domain   along  the  Adriatic. 
Her   oppression   of   Servia  in   the  past. 
The   assassination   of   the   heir   apparent   re- 


garded as  a  pretext  for  further  oppres- 
sion  and   annexation   of  territory. 

Ignoring  of  Servia's  request  that  the  Aus- 
trian ultimatum  be  referred  to  the  tribu- 
nal  of  The   Hague. 

The  Triple  Alliance  and  the  Triple  En- 
tente. 

Opinions   by   experts,  Servian  and   Austrian. 


CHAPTER   II.— THE   ORIGINAL   CAUSES— BOUNDARIES   AND    RACES 


How  to   study  these  causes  intelligently. 

The  tendency  of  mankind  to  work  toward 
centralization  when  natural  boundaries  are 
found. 

Why  the  natural  law  of  geographical  neces- 
sity holds  a  nation  together. 

Other   elements   of   union. 


Elements    of    separation. 

Difl'erent     races,     religions,     and     languages. 

Polyglot  speech  of  Austria-Hungary. 

The    "Eastern    Question." 

The  "Sick  Man"  of  Europe. 

The  usual  outcome  of  modern  wars. 


CHAPTER   III.— MOBILIZATION 


Mobilization   of  the  world   in   everyday  life. 

Time  is  required  for  the  mobilization  of  an 
army. 

The  call  to  arms. 

Getting   the    commissary    department    ready. 

Provision  made  for  cavalry  as  well  as  men. 

The    medical   corps    and    Red    Cross    nurses. 

Preparation  of  signal  corps:  field  instru- 
ments and  operators. 


Mobilization  of  an  army  in  Germany. 
In  France. 
In  Russia. 
In  England. 

Standing    forces    and    incorporation    of    re- 
serves. 

Various   classes   of  reserves. 

Diagram  of  a  German  army  corps. 

Table   showing   fighting  strength   of  nations. 


CHAPTER  IV.— THE  NEW  WARFARE 


Inventive  genius  applied  to  war. 
Dreadnoughts  and  quick-firers. 
Alternations  between  improvements  in  attack 
and  defense. 


Poetic  prophecy   of  air-ships. 

The    Red    Cross    Society    and    the    advances 

made  in  medical  and  surgical  science. 
George  WiUiam  Curtis's  pathetic  epigram. 


4 


SYNOPSIS    OF    CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   v.— MILITARY   IMPLEMENTS   OF   WAR 


Multiplicity  of  engines  of  slaughter  since  the 

Napoleonic    wars. 
Offensive  and   defensive  weapons. 
Various  forms  of  explosives. 
Smokeless  powder. 
Varieties  of  modern  rifles. 
Sword   and    lance. 

Small  caliber  bullets;  the  "dum-dum"  bullet. 
The  machine  guns  used  by  different  nations. 
Artillery  guns. 
Field  artillery. 
Horse  artillery. 


Common  shell  and  shrapnel 

Case  shot. 

Hand   grenades. 

Automobiles  in  warfare. 

Motor-cars  fitted  with  surgical  operating- 
rooms. 

Motor-vans  for  carrying  commissary  "  sup- 
plies. 

Motor-trucks  for  transporting  wireless  teleg- 
raphy  outfit. 

Bicycles  and  motorcycles. 


CHAPTER   VI.— WARSHIPS    AND    NAVAL    IMPLEMENTS    OF    WAR 


Romance  attached  to  historic  sea-fights. 

Modern  battle-ships. 

The  British  "Dreadnought,"  which  effected  a 
revolution  in  the  construction  of  battle- 
ships. 

Pre-dreadnoughts  and  super-dreadnoughts. 

The    new    "Queen    Elizabeth," 

Battle-ship   cruisers. 

Ordinary  cruisers. 


Destroyers. 

Submarines. 

Periscopes. 

Naval  guns. 

The  armor-piercing  shell. 

How  a  large  naval  gun  is  operated. 

Range-finding. 

Torpedoes. 


CHAPTER   VII.— COAST-DEFENSES    AND    FORTIFICATIONS 


The  modern  inland  fort. 

The     chains     of     interior     fortifications     in 

Europe. 
Construction  of  a  tjpical  fort. 
Mines. 


Theoretical  invulnerability  of  a   fort. 
Heaviest  of  all  weapons  used  in  coast  forti- 
fications. 
Coast-defense    guns. 
Range-finding  of  heavy  guns. 


CHAPTER    VIII.— AIRCRAFT  AND    WIRELESS    TELEGRAPHY    IN    WAR 


Aircraft    the    most    spectacular    feature    of 

modern    warfare. 
The  former  talk  of  aircraft  has  passed  from 

jest   to   earnest. 
Aviation   established   as   an   arm   of  military 

service  in   1912. 
Air-ships,  or  dirigibles. 
The  Zeppelin  type. 
Semi-rigid  and  non-rigid  types. 
Aeroplanes. 


Hydro-aeroplanes. 

Value  of  aircraft  as  a  means  of  reconnois- 
sance. 

Wireless  telegraphy. 

Great  strides  in  the  science  of  signaling  since 
the  War  of  1812. 

From  flags  and  semaphores  to  wireless 
telegraphy  and  telephony. 

Kites  and  balloons  make  connections  by  wire- 
less  with  stations   at  long  distances. 


SYNOPSIS    OF    CONTENTS 


CHAPTER    IX.— EUROPEAN    WARS    SINCE    1815 


The  Greek  War  for  Independence  (1829-'30) 

The  Greeks  under  Turkish  rule  for  centuries. 

Revolt  at  Jassy  in  18:21. 

Historic    massacre    at    Chios. 

Lord   Byron's  part  in  the  Greek  war. 

Urahim  Pasha,  viceroy  of  Egypt,  and  his  ef- 
fort  to   crush   the   Greek   revolt. 

A  protocol  drawn  by  three  great  European 
Powers,  demanding   an   armistice. 

Turkish  and  Egyptian  forces  routed  at  the 
battle   of   Navarino. 

Proclamation  of  Greece  as  an  independent 
kingdom. 

The  Kevolution  of  July  (1830) 
Charles  X  on  the  throne  of  France. 
Polignac,  the  arbitrary  head  of  the  ministry: 

his  craft  and  deception. 
Suppression  of  Algerian  pirates. 
Offenses   against  the   rights   and  liberties  of 

the  people. 
Revolt  breaks  out,  and  Charles  X  is  driven 

out  of  France. 
Crowning   of   Louis   Philippe. 

Revolutionary  Movements  of  1848 
Social  conditions  in  Europe  in  the  first  half 

of   the    19th   century. 
Metternich,  his   autocratic  rule,  his   fall  and 

flight. 
Spirit  of  the   French  Revolution  stirring  in 

the  people. 
Kossuth,     Hecker,     Garibaldi,     collaborators 

for  freedom. 
Beginnings  of  the  new  revolt  in  Paris. 
The  March  Laws. 
Independence    of    Hungary, 
Revolt    in    Milan;    strife    against    Radetzky, 

Austria's  general  in  charge. 
The  battle  of  Prague. 
The  fall  of  Kossuth. 
Resignation  of  Victor  Emmanuel  I. 

The  Chrimean  War  (1854-'55) 
The  desire  of  Russia  to  gain  access  to  the 

sea. 
Russia's  invasion  of  Turkey. 
Declaration  of  war  on  Russia  by  the  allied 

Powers. 


Balaclava — Inkerman — the      English      Royal 

Guards. 
The  siege  of  Sebastopol — Its  fall. 
Treaty  of  Paris. 
Turkey  admitted  as  a  European  Power. 

The  Franco-Austrian  War  (1859) 

Ascendancy   of   Austria   in   Italy. 

Woeful  condition  of  the  people. 

Declaration  of  war  against  Austria  by  Na- 
poleon  III. 

Battle  of  Magenta:  Marshal  MacMahon: 
battle  of  Solferino. 

The  Peace  of  Villafranca. 

The   Liberation   and   Unification   of   Italy 

(1859-'70) 
Long  subservience  of  Italy  to  foreign  rulers. 
Result  of  conquests  of  Napoleon  I  on  Italian 

division    of   territory. 
Suppression   of  liberal  thought  in  Italy. 
The   Carbonari    ("charcoal-burners"). 
Mutiny  of  the  royal  troops  of  Naples. 
The  three  great  liberators:  Mazzini,  Garibaldi, 

Cavour. 
Insurrection  in  the  two  Sicilies. 
The  Italian  victory  at  Gaeta. 
Withdrawal  of  Napoleon  Ill's  troops  from 

Italy. 
End  of  the  temporal  power  of  the  papacy. 
"Italy  free!" 

The  Schleswig-Holstein  War  (1864) 

The   Duchy  of  Schleswig-Holstein. 

Origin  of  Schleswig  dates  from  time  of  King 
Cnut    (Canute). 

Origin  of  the  Duchy  of  Holstein  under  Dan- 
ish rule. 

Union  of  the  two  duchies  under  Danish 
rule. 

The  Danish  King  declared  a  member  of  the 
Germanic  body. 

Prussian   troops   invade    the  united   duchies. 

Courage  of  the  Danes. 

Schleswig-Holstein  annexed  to  Prussia. 

The  Prusso-Austrian  War  (1866) 
Determination    of    Bismarck    to    consolidate 
the  German  States. 


SYNOPSIS    OF    CONTENTS 


Equally  strong  desire  of  Prussia  and  Aus- 
tria to  become  the  dominant  power  in 
the   German   States. 

The  clash  called  the  Seven-Weeks'  War. 

The    battle   of   Sadowa. 

Austria's    defeat. 

King  of  Prussia  becomes  also  the  German 
Emperor. 

The  Franco-Prussian  War   (1870) 

The  revolution  in  Spain   of   1868. 

Deposition   of   Queen   Isabella. 

An  eligible  candidate  for  the  Spanish  crown 
chosen  in  a  German  prince,  Leopold  of 
HohenzoUern. 

France,  through  Napoleon  III,  objects  to 
possible  increase   of   German   power. 

The  French  Ambassador  to  Germany  re- 
quests the  German  Emperor  to  forbid  the 
prince  to   accept   the  crown. 

Germany   takes   offense. 

Mobilization  of  German  army  ordered,  July 
15,    1870. 

France  makes  ready  for  war. 

A  Berlin! 

Inadequate  preparation  of   French  army. 

German  army  in  perfect  condition  for  war- 
fare. 

The  battle  of  Worth. 

The  siege  of  Metz. 

Marshal  MacMahon  and  Bazaine. 

The   battle   of   Sedan. 

Napoleon  III  hands  his  sword  to  Emperor 
William   I. 

The  siege  of  Paris. 

Bismarck's  triumph. 

The  Russo-Turkish  War  (1877) 
Turkish   misrule   during   four   centuries. 
Rise    of    Bosnia    and    Herzegovina    in    1876. 
Massacre   of   Christians. 
Barbarous   Bashi-Bazouks. 
Europe    protests:     Gladstone,    Disraeli,    the 
Russian  Emperor,  Alexander  II. 


The  siege  of  Plevna. 

The   Russian  army  enters  Adrianople* 

The  Treaty  of  San  Stefano. 

Independence  of  Servia,  Montenegro,  and 
Rumania. 

Bosnia  and  Herzegovina  protected  by  Aus- 
tria. 

The  Greco-Turkish  War  (1897) 

The  Greek  Government  since  1863. 

King  George   I. 

Years  of  wrangling  between  Greece  and  Tur- 
key over  boundary  lines  culminates  in  hos- 
tilities on  the  Island  of  Crete. 

Turkey  overcomes  Greece  by  better  pre- 
paredness   for   war. 

Turkish    atrocities    horrify    the    world. 

Armistice  demanded  by  Russia. 

Peace  treaty  at  Constantinople. 

Settlement  of  the  boundary  line  and  ques- 
tion  of  territory. 

War  in  the  Balkan  Stiates  (1912-'13) 

Annexation  of  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina  by 
Austria. 

Bulgarians  in  1885  object  to  Russian 
domination  and  join  the  people  of  East- 
ern Rumelia  against  the  Czar's  min- 
isters. 

They  repress  the  Servians,  who  protest 
against  the  expansion  of  Bulgaria. 

The  prince  of  Bulgaria  becomes  king  (1908) 
and  throws  off  Turkish  allegiance. 

The  momentous  year  when  the  "Young 
Turks"  wrested  a  constitution  from  the 
Sultan. 

Banishment  of  Abdul  Hamid. 

Macedonia  the  seat  of  the  trouble  that  fol- 
lowed. 

Uprisings   in   Albania. 

Greece  joins  in  the  general  fray. 

Fall  of  Adrianople. 

Treaty  of  peace  signed  in  London. 


CHAPTER  X.— COUNTRIES   AT   WAR    AND    INVOLVED 


Austria-Hungary.       Area     and     population 

of   the    dual   monarchy. 
Boundaries,    mountains,    and    rivers. 
Early  history  of  Austria. 


Mode   of   government. 
Military   service. 
Education. 
Religion. 


SYNOPSIS    OF    CONTENTS 


Variety  of  languages  spoken  in  the  two 
countries. 

Napoleon's  career  in  Austria. 

Congress  of  Vienna,  which  decided  Napo- 
leon's fate. 

Attractions  of  Vienna,  the  capital  of  Aus- 
tria. 

Early   history   of   Hungary. 

Picturesqueness  of  Buda-Pest,  its  capital. 

Austrian  declaration  of  war  on  Russia  (Aug. 
6,    1914). 

Belgium.     Area    and    population. 
Its  provinces   and  peoples: 

The   Flemings;   the   Walloons. 

The  languages. 
Early  history. 
Mode    of   government. 
Education. 
Religion. 

Agriculture  and  commerce. 
Rivers  and  canals. 
Military  service. 
Various  industries. 
Wealth  per  capita. 

Belgium  the  battle-ground  of  Europe. 
Attractions   of   celebrated   cities   and   towns: 

Antwerp. 

Bruges. 

Brussels. 

Ghent. 

Ostend. 
The  battlefield  of  Waterloo. 
The  Belgian   Congo. 

The  British  Empire.      Area   of  the   United 

Kingdom. 
Mountains  and  rivers. 

Climate;  fertility  of  soil;  picturesque  scenery. 
Coal  mines  and  manufacturing  centers. 
London,  the  largest  tity  in  the  world. 
Oxford  and  Cambridge  universities. 
Famous   cathedrals. 
Early   history. 
The  American   Revolution. 
Struggles   with    Napoleon. 
The  Duke  of  Wellington. 
The  Victorian  reign. 
England's  colonial  possessions. 
Mode   of   government. 
Religion. 
Military  and  naval  defenses. 


France.       Area,     boundaries,     rivers,     and 

mountains. 
Great      variety      and      beauty      of      scenery 

throughout  France. 
Historic   castles    and    cathedrals. 
Medieval    fortifications    the    most    perfectly 

preserved   in   the   world. 
The  castles  of  Francis  I. 
Early   history. 
Sources     of     wealth:     minerals,     vineyards, 

manufactures. 
Mode  of  government. 
Population. 

Military  and  naval  service. 
Colonial   possessions. 

The  German  Empire.  Boundaries,  rivers, 
area  and  population. 

Beginning  of  the  German  Empire  in  its  pres- 
ent form. 

History  of  Germany  from  the  eighteenth 
century. 

Table    of    States    composing    the    empire. 

Colonial  acquisitions. 

Mode  of  government. 

Successful  dealing  with  the  problem  of  pau- 
perism. 

Religion. 

Education. 

Military  and  naval  service  and  defenses. 

Military  dirigibles  and  aeroplanes. 

Industries,  manufactures,  mining,  fisheries. 

Railways   and   waterwaj's : 
The  Kaiser  Wilhelm  Canal; 
its  locks  larger  than  those  of  the  Panama 
Canal. 

Foreign  possessions. 

Demand  of  the  German  Emperor  that  the 
mobilization  of  Russian  troops  be  discon- 
tinued (July  31,  1914).  His  declaration 
of  war  on  Russia. 

Russia.   Area,  boundaries,  and  climate. 

Population. 

Agriculture,  mining,  fisheries,  and  cattle. 

Mode  of  government. 

Religion. 

Education. 

Early  history. 

Ivan  the  Terrible;  the  Cossack;  the  first  of 

the  Romanoffs,  the  founder  of  the  present 

royal  line. 


8 


SYNOPSIS    OF    CONTENTS 


Peter  the  Great;  Catherine  II. 

Conquest  of  Poland. 

Napoleon  I  in  Russia. 

Emancipation  of  the  serfs. 

Stifling  of  free  thought  and  speech  Russia's 

policy  from  earliest  times. 
Expansion  of  the  empire. 
Troubles  of  the  Jews. 
"Red  Sunday"  (Jan.  23,  1905). 
The  first  "Duma." 
Russian  mobilization  of  troops  to  aid  Servia 

against  Austria. 

Servia:  boundaries,  area,  and  population. 

Mountains   and  rivers. 

Mining  and  other  industries. 

Education. 

Absence  of  paupers. 

Military   service. 

Early   history. 

Independence  of  Turkey  achieved  in  1878. 

King  Milan:  his  abdication. 

King  Alexander:  his  assassination  in  1903. 

Montenegro.     Area,   population,   boundaries. 

Education. 

Religion. 

Change   from   a   principality   to    a  kingdom. 

Joins  Servia  and  the  Allies. 


Albania.    The  chief  use  of  this  State. 
Boundaries,  rivers,  and  principal  towns. 
Early  history. 
A  coimtry  infested  with  bandits  and  warring 

tribes. 
A    puppet   in   the    hands    of    the    European 

Powers. 

Italy.    Boundaries,  moimtains,  and  rivers. 

Population. 

Form  of  government. 

Education. 

Religion. 

Military  and  naval  service. 

Equivocal   position   of   Italy   at   opening   of 

war. 
Proclamation  of  neutrality. 
Strong    reasons    inclining    Italy    to    join   the 

AUies. 

Japan.    Boundaries,  area,  and  population. 

Present  government. 

Religion. 

Education. 

Military  and  naval  service. 

Joins  England  against  Germany. 

Ultimatum    demanding   evacuation   of    Kiau- 

Chou. 
Ill-feeling  against  Germany  of  long  standing. 


CHAPTER  XI.— THE  HAGUE  CONFERENCE 


"The  capital  of  the  world." 

The  Peace  Palace. 

The  progress  of  a  century  in  international 

morality. 
The  first  peace  conference   (1899). 
Chief  accomplishment  of  the  conference. 
The    second    peace    conference    (1907). 
.The  first  case  tried  before  the  tribunal. 


Other   important   cases. 

The  international  prize  court. 

Provisions  of  the  tribunal  of  The  Hague. 

Ignoring  of  these  provisions  by  some  of  the 
Powers. 

The  "Drago  Doctrine." 

The  Hague  Peace  Palace  a  gift  from  An- 
drew Carnegie. 


CHAPTER    XII.— THE    EFFECT    OF    THE    WAR    ON    THE    WESTERN    WORLD 


How  the  disaster  and  desolation  of  war 
produce  the  paradox  of  prosperity. 

The  money  markets  of  the  world  just  before 
"the  clash  of  nations." 

Heavy  shipments  of  gold  from  the  United 
States  to  Europe. 


Unshakable  stability  of  American  finances. 

Temporary  paralysis  of  business  in  the 
United  States. 

The  inevitable  revival. 

Great  opportunities  for  many  lines  of  Amer- 
ican industry. 


SYNOPSIS    OF    CONTENTS 


9 


What  the  drawbacks  to  the  prosperity  of 
the  United  States  are  likely  to  be. 

FoodstuflFs. 

The  fate  of  the  American  apple  crop  of 
1914. 

A  hard  blow  at  cotton  manufacture. 

The  metal   trades   strong. 

A  new  factor  to  help  in  bringing  prosperity. 

Magnificent  opportunity  to  reestablish  the 
American    merchant    marine. 


A  weak  link  in  the  chain  of  American  citi- 
zenship. 

Great  opportunity  for  United  States  trade  in 
South  America  and  Central   America. 

Rare  chance  for  enterprising  men  to  act  as 
"business  scouts"  in  South  America. 

Effect  of  months  of  stoppage  of  immigra- 
tion to  our  shores. 

America  the  land  of  worthy  work,  demo- 
cratic   equality,    and    noble   peace. 


CHAPTER    XIII.— STATE    PAPERS    AND  OFFICIAL  CORRESPONDENCE 


Ultimatum  sent  by  Austria-Hungary  to 
Servia,  July  23,  1914. 

Circular  note  to  the  powers  issued  by  the 
Austro-Hungarian  Foreign  OflBice,  July  24, 
1914. 

Reply  of  Servia  to  the  Austro-Hungarian 
ultimatum,  July  25,  1914. 

Circular  note  issued  by  Austria-Hungary  de- 
nouncing Servia's  reply,  July  26,  1914. 

Austria-Hungary's  Declaration  of  War 
against   Servia,  July  28,    1914. 

Note  of  the  Russian  Foreign  Office,  July 
28,  1914. 

Czar's  personal  note  to  the  Kaiser,  July  31, 
1914. 

Kaiser's  reply  to  Czar's  note,  July  31,  1914. 

King  George's  personal  appeal  to  the  Czar, 
August  1,  1914. 

The  Czar's  reply  to  King  George's  appeal, 
August  1,  1914. 

Proclamation  of  President  Poincare  follow- 
ing the  decree  of  French  mobilization, 
August  1,  1914. 

Manifesto  of  the  Czar  to  the  Russian  People 
upon  Germany's  declaration  of  war,  Au- 
gust 3,  1914. 


Personal  Message  from  King  Albert  of  Bel- 
gium to   King  George,  August  2,  1914. 

Telegram  from  Sir  Edward  Grey  to  British 
Ambassador  instructing  him  to  deliver  ul- 
timatum to  Germany,  August  4,  1914. 

Statement  of  the  British  Foreign  Office  after 
the  proclamation  of  war  on  Germany, 
August  4,  1914. 

President  Wilson's  tender  of  good  offices 
made  to  each  of  the  rulers  of  the  states 
at  war,  August  5,  1914. 

Statement  of  the  British  Foreign  Office  fol- 
lowing the  declaration  of  war  on  Austria- 
Hungary,  August   13,   1914. 

Russia's  Appeal  to  the  Poles,  August  14, 
1914. 

Japan's  Ultimatum  to  Germany,  August  16, 
1914. 

Japan's  Declaration  of  War  against  Ger- 
many, August  24,   1914. 

Message  from  the  Kaiser  to  President  Wil- 
son charging  the  use  of  dum-dum  bullets 
by  the  Allies  and  explaining  the  reasons 
for  the  destruction  of  Louvain. 

Reply  of  President  Wilson  to  the  Kaiser's 
Message,  September  17,  1914. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  LIST  OF  EVENTS 


O    3! 

UJ    < 

<      (8 


10 


THE  CLASH   OF  NATIONS 

CHAPTER  I 

THE    IMMEDIATE    CAUSES    OF  THE    WAR 

On  June  27,  1914,  Francis  Ferdinand,  nephew  of  the  emperor 
and  heir  to  the  throne  of  Austria-Hungary,  drove,  with  his  wife, 
through  Sarajevo,  capital  of  the  Province  of  Bosnia,  which  had  been 
wrested  from  Servia  by  Austria.  Suddenly  a  half-crazed  Servian 
student  forced  his  way  through  the  protecting  line  of  soldiers  and 
fired  a  pistol  with  deadly  aim  at  the  royal  carriage.  The  shots  not 
only  slew  Francis  Ferdinand  and  his  consort,  but  gave  the  immediate 
provocation — or,  at  least,  the  pretext — for  a  still  more  hideous  slaugh- 
ter; it  set  in  motion  a  war  that  has  wrecked  the  peace  of  Europe  and 
embroiled  the  Powers  in  the  most  appalling  conflict  the  modern  world 
has  known. 

This  murder  was  not  in  itself  sufficient  to  cause  a  world-catas- 
trophe. No  one  at  the  time  could  imagine  its  all-embracing  conse- 
quences. Yet  succeeding  events  have  cast  an  illuminating  light  on 
the  dark  places  of  political  affairs,  and  revealed  to  us  a  Europe 
mined  with  the  animosities  of  contending  races,  and  primed  for  the 
chance  spark  that  should  cause  an  explosion. 

Dispassionate  students  of  world-politics,  though  cautious  in  fram- 
ing an  indictment  against  the  Powers  that  precipitated  the  conflict, 
seem  agreed  that  its  causes  are  rooted  in  Austria's  resolve  to  weld  the 
difl'erent  factions  of  her  empire  at  whatever  result  to  the  Slav, 
though  she  was  well  aware  that  in  so  doing  she  braved  the  inevitable 
opposition  of  Russia  and  all  the  martial  hordes  of  the  Balkan  States. 
Austria's  critics  call  her  the  oppressor  and  bully  of  Servia.  They  point 
to  the  many  things  she  has  done  to  impair  the  national  integrity  of 
the  little  kingdom — to  make  it,  in  fact,  her  vassal,  in  order  that  the 

11 


-I     X 


12 


THE    IMMEDIATE    CAUSES    OF    THE    WAR  13 

door  may  be  open  to  her  own  expansion.  In  this  never-wavering 
purpose  of  Austria  to  extend  her  domain  along  the  Adriatic,  in  1908 
she  tore  up  the  Treaty  of  Berhn  (made  in  1878),  seized  the  Servian 
provinces  of  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina,  sought  Russia's  sanction  for 
the  occupation  of  Salonica,  and,  f aiHng  in  this,  would  now  take  from 
Servia  the  sanjak  of  Novi  Bazar,  and  so  set  at  naught  the  alliance  of 
Servia  with  Montenegro. 

But  that  is  not  all.  Having,  through  her  seizure  of  Bosnia  and 
Herzegovina,  so  bottled  up  Servia  that  the  Serbs  must  seek  a  market 
for  their  products  in  Hungary,  Austria,  from  time  to  time,  has  en- 
forced quarantine  regulations  that  make  it  impossible  for  the  Ser- 
vian farmer  to  live.  This  alone  has  driven  the  peasant  to  despera- 
tion. Inhabiting  a  rugged  country,  only  one  fourth  of  which  can 
be  cultivated,  he  is  forced  to  raise  pork  that  his  Jewish  and  Moham- 
medan neighbors  to  the  south  cannot  eat,  and  that  he  cannot  send 
across  the  Danube  at  a  profit.  His  very  existence  depends  upon 
getting  an  outlet  to  the  sea.  For  such  an  outlet  he  freely  shed  his 
blood  in  the  two  recent  wars  with  the  Turk,  only  to  find  that  Austria 
had  once  more  blocked  his  way  by  setting  up  the  spurious  principal- 
ity of  Albania. 

So  say  the  critics  of  Austrian  ambitions  and  Austrian  politics  as 
played  by  the  Hapsburgs.  This  arraignment  (just  recited  above)  of 
Austria-Hungary  is  founded  partly  on  an  assumption  of  sinister 
motives,  partly  on  the  facts  of  recorded  history,  and  partly  on  a  hos- 
tile interpretation  of  recent  events.  The  more  recent  happenings 
are  concerned  with  charges  of  political  conspiracy  to  which  Austria 
ascribes  not  only  the  actual  murder  of  her  heir  apparent,  but  other 
crimes  as  well.  The  Servians,  so  Austro-Hungarians  would  ask  the 
world  to  believe,  are  the  scum  of  the  earth — mentally  and  morally 
degraded.  It  is  only  under  Austrian  rule  that  they  take  on  the 
ways  of  civilization — improving  their  farms,  building  up  industries, 
and  emerging  from  a  shamefully  illiterate  condition.  Lacking  this 
benevolent  supervision,  they  easily  degenerate  into  assassins  and 
poisoners.  The  very  Government,  we  are  told,  has  been  in  league 
with  its  citizens  to  plot  against  the  peace  of  the  troubled  Austrian 
Empire,  and  to  sow  sedition  among  its  vast  population  of  Ser- 
vians.   These  charges  are  hotly  resented  by  the  Serbs. 


14 


THE    IMMEDIATE    CAUSES    OF    THE    WAR  16 

Whatever  facts  concerning  the  murder  of  the  heir  apparent  may 
ultimately  be  disclosed,  Austria-Hungary's  efforts  to  fasten  the  crime 
upon  Servia  had  met  with  no  success  when,  late  in  July,  the  Emperor 
Francis  Joseph  was  persuaded  to  enforce  the  policy  of  coercion  that 
was  implied  in  his  country's  sweeping  demands.  Servia  was  dis- 
posed to  comply  with  these  demands,  excepting  that  which  provided 
for  an  inquiry  by  Austrian  officials  in  Servia  itself.  To  abase  her- 
self in  that  particular  involved  the  virtual  abdication  of  her  sov- 
ereignty. Servia  asked  that  the  matter  be  referred  to  The  Hague,  as 
fully  provided  for  in  the  treaty  signed  by  Austria-Hungary  in  com- 
mon with  the  other  great  European  Powers  in  1899. 

"The  contracting  powers,"  says  this  treaty,  to  which  the  peace 
advocates  of  the  world  had  pinned  their  faith,  "agree  to  use  their 
best  efforts  to  insure  the  pacific  settlement  of  international  differ- 
ences. In  case  of  serious  disagreement  or  conflict,  before  an  ap- 
peal to  arms,  the  contracting  powers  agree  to  have  recourse,  so  far 
as  circumstances  allow,  to  the  good  offices  or  mediation  of  one  or 
more  friendly  powers." 

But  Austria-Hungary,  it  appears,  was  in  no  temper  for  media- 
tion. It  is  generally  believed,  moreover,  that  she  counted  upon  Ser- 
via's  refusal,  and  was  prepared  to  make  good  her  own  ultimatum.  It 
is  also  assumed  that  in  this  she  counted  upon  the  cooperation  of  Ger- 
many, her  chief  partner  in  the  Triple  Alliance.  Be  this  as  it  may,  the 
German  Emperor  did  not  hold  back.  In  vain  did  Great  Britain  ap- 
peal to  him  with  offers  of  conciliation.  The  shadow  of  the  Russian 
Bear  obscured  the  sun;  the  fighting  millions  of  the  czar  were  in 
process  of  mobilization.  Austria-Hungary  declared  war  on  Servia, 
and  a  horrified  and  bewildered  western  world  saw  chaos  come  again. 

The  immediate  causes  contributing  to  the  war  are  so  overlapped 
with  causes  more  remote  that  it  is  difficult  to  separate  and  distinguish 
them.  The  political  tension  of  Europe  within  the  past  few  j^ears  is  in 
most  respects  a  sequence  of  conditions  that  have  long  obtained — 
some  of  them  for  many  hundreds  of  years.  What  has  happened  in 
the  Balkans  is  the  climax  of  an  old  story.  German  aggression  is  the 
legitimate,  though  to  some  persons  the  unexpected,  expression  of  a 
State  that  for  many  years  has  resembled  an  armed  camp.  The  imme- 
diate relation  of  Austria-Hungary  to  the  present  crisis  merges  in  the 


16 


THE    IMMEDIATE    CAUSES    OF    THE    WAR  171 

period  that  began  with  1878.  Russia's  designs  are  all  but  as  old  as 
the  sea  that  she  seeks,  and  the  Slavs  by  any  other  name  than  Servia 
would  as  readily  enlist  her  aid.  France  has  been  forced  to  fight,  and 
so  has  Great  Britain. 

What  has  really  happened  is  a  new  alignment  of  the  nations. 
For  the  first  time  in  history,  the  Latins  are  a  secondary  consideration. 
Uppermost  in  this  stupendous  conflict  loom  two  great  antagonists — 
the  Teuton  and  the  Slav.  The  Germans  of  Austria-Hungary,  with 
those  of  the  German  Empire,  have  pitted  their  strength  against  Rus- 
sia and  the  millions  that  are  allied  to  her  by  race.  Great  Britain  and 
France  back  the  Slav,  and  the  western  world  looks  on. 

The  Triple  Alliance  and  the  Triple  Entente. — In  political  terms, 
Triple  Alliance  is  arrayed  against  Triple  Entente.  International 
Alliances,  or  agreements  between  nations  of  independent  rank,  for 
the  purpose  of  offense  or  defense,  have  been  formed  in  Europe, 
from  time  to  time,  in  order  to  maintain  what  is  called  "the  balance  of 
power."  France,  for  example,  without  the  political  partnership  of 
Russia,  or  her  understanding  with  Great  Britain,  would  be  soon  re- 
duced to  subjection  by  Germany,  and  Germany,  in  turn,  needs 
Austria-Hungary's  support.  In  Europe  the  political  scene  is  con- 
stantly shifting  with  the  development  of  the  various  nations,  and  the 
national  friend  of  to-day  may  be  the  national  enemy  of  to-morrow. 
In  the  Triple  Alliance  of  1688,  Britain,  Sweden,  and  the  Netherlands 
were  arrayed  against  France,  while  in  1717  France  found  herself 
allied  with  England  and  Holland  against  Spain,  and  afterward  Aus- 
tria united  with  them,  making  a  quadruple  alliance.  In  1788  Eng- 
land, Prussia,  and  Holland  formed  an  alliance,  which  was  in  effect 
four  years.  As  late  as  1854,  England  and  France — to-day  the  allies 
of  Russia — combined  with  Turkey  and  Sardinia  against  the  czar.  In 
1872  Russia,  Austria,  and  Germany  formed  an  alliance  that  was  pop- 
ularly known  as  "the  league  of  the  three  emperors."  In  1879  Ger- 
many and  Austria  were  allied,  and  Italy  joined  them  in  1882.  This 
was  called  the  Dreibund  (German  for  Triple  Alliance).  In  1902 
England  began  forming  similar  connections  (called  ententes,  signi- 
fying "understanding"),  first  with  France,  then  with  Russia — now 
constituting  the  Triple  Entente;  and  in  1901  England  formed  an  alli- 
ance with  Japan,  which  was  renewed  in  1911.    Some  of  these  alliances 


18 


THE    IMMEDIATE    CAUSES    OF    THE    WAR  19 

are  defensive  only.  Thus,  in  the  present  war,  Italy,  a  member  of  the 
Triple  Alliance,  declines  to  join  with  Germany  and  Austria,  on  the 
ground  that  they  are  the  aggressors,  whereas  she  allied  herself  with 
them  for  defense  only.  At  this  moment  we  see  Japan,  Russia's  recent 
conqueror,  ready  to  aid  King  George,  and  incidentally  the  czar,  in 
keeping  Asia's  coast  in  order  by  joining  hands  against  the  Germans. 
This  alliance  between  Japan  and  Great  Britain  was  formed  in  1902, 
in  the  face  of  adverse  criticism  by  many  Americans,  and  still  closer 
relations  were  established  in  1905 ;  but  it  is  Germany,  and  not  our  own 
nation,  that  will  suffer  through  the  compact. 

It  will  be  observed  that  Bismarck — Germany's  chancellor  of 
"blood  and  iron" — has  had  no  successor.  When  the  German  ship  of 
state  dropped  its  pilot — as  the  London  "Punch"  once  phrased  it  in 
the  legend  under  a  famous  cartoon — the  Kaiser  took  the  helm.  There 
are  those  who  hold  that,  were  Bismarck  alive  and  in  power  to-day, 
German  diplomacy,  if  it  did  not  avert  the  war,  would  at  least  not  have 
blundered  in  alienating  Italy  as  a  party  to  the  Triple  Alliance  and 
inviting  the  vengeance  of  Great  Britain  by  invading  Belgium  in 
defiance  of  The  Hague  Conference  rules. 

It  is  interesting  to  recall  that  Bismarck,  up  to  the  time  of  his  abdi- 
cation, did  not  relinquish  the  idea  of  renewing  friendship  with  Russia. 
For  Russia  was  bound  with  Austria-Hungary  and  Germany  in  the 
informal  pact  of  1872  known  as  the  Dreibund,  and  if  Russia  even- 
tually withdrew  from  it,  it  was  because  her  war  against  Turkey,  five 
years  later,  did  not  accord  with  Austrian  aims.  With  Russia  an  un- 
certain factor,  Austria  and  Germany  formed  a  defensive  alliance  in 
1879,  though  it  was  not  made  pubhc  till  1887,  and  in  1882  Italy  for- 
swore the  friendship  of  France,  owing  to  the  French  occupation  of 
Tunis,  and  became  the  third  member  of  what  is  now  known  as  the 
Triple  Alliance. 

Italy's  participation  seems  to  be  that  of  a  silent  partner,  and  a 
displeased  one  at  that.  Since  1898  she  has  renewed  her  lost  friendship 
for  France,  and  she  took  occasion  to  show  it  when  Germany  threat- 
ened trouble  in  Morocco.  In  view  of  Austria's  cruel  oppression  of 
Italy,  ere  the  yoke  was  cast  off  by  Cavour,  Italy's  alliance  with  the 
despotic  Hapsburgs  seems  inexplicable.  The  news  from  Italy  at  the 
outbreak  of  the  war  showed  that,  whatever  might  be  the  views  of  the 


I 


(Q   a> 


O     4) 


go 


THE    IMMEDIATE    CAUSES    OF    THE    WAR  21 

Government,  the  Italian  people  were  strongly  opposed,  not  only  to 
joining  in  a  war  against  France,  but  to  the  strengthening  of  Austria's 
grip  on  the  Balkans  and  the  furtherance  of  her  designs  on  the  Adri- 
atic coast. 

Meanwhile,  Italy  has  been  on  excellent  terms  with  Great  Britain 
ever  since  the  alliance  between  Russia  and  France  was  effected  in  the 
period  of  1887-'95.  Strangely  enough,  this  was  brought  about  be- 
cause France  and  Russia  took  alarm  at  overtures  made  to  Great  Brit- 
ain by  central  Europe.  The  French  fleet  paid  a  visit  to  Cronstadt, 
the  Russian  fleet  saluted  the  Republic  at  Toulon.  The  old  cry  of 
"perfidious  Albion"  was  raised,  and  Russian  loans  were  subscribed  in 
Paris.  Yet  Russia  and  France,  by  formal  compact,  and  Great  Brit- 
ain, with  acknowledgments  less  binding,  form  the  Triple  Entente 
that  is  now  in  a  death-grip  with  the  two  Germanic  Powers  of  the 
Triple  Alliance. 

Two  Expert  Pleas — A  brilliant  representative  of  the  Serbs  is  their 
honorary  consul-general.  Professor  Michael  I.  Pupin,  of  Columbia 
University.  Professor  Pupin,  who  is  a  Serb  of  Austrian  birth, 
holds  that  Austria's  ultimatum  to  Servia  is  the  most  arrogant  docu- 
ment ever  flung  in  the  face  of  a  weaker  nation  by  a  powerful  one. 
"It  is  true,"  he  declared  in  a  recent  interview,  "that  there  is  a  Pan- 
Serb  propaganda  in  Austria;  but  this  propaganda  is  among  the 
Serbs  and  Croats  in  Austria,  and  not  among  the  Serbs  in  Servia  or 
Montenegro.  These  Austrian  Serbs — and  I  am  one  of  them — need 
no  encouragement  from  Servia  to  carry  on  their  national  movement. 
Austrian  violation  of  every  principle  of  justice  and  fairness,  Aus- 
trian tyranny,  which  cannot  find  its  parallel  in  the  darkest  period 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  is  responsible  for  this  Pan- Serb  movement 
in  Austria. 

"In  1690  thirty-five  thousand  picked  Serb  families  left  Old  Ser- 
via at  the  express  invitation  of  Emperor  Leopold  I  of  Austria  and 
settled  along  the  southern  Austrian  frontier,  which  was  then  being 
devastated  by  the  Turks.  And  now  a  refusal  of  the  Austrian  Empire 
to  deal  fairly  with  her  Serb  subjects  is  particularly  hard  in  face  of  the 
fact  that  for  two  centuries  they  were  the  bravest  and  most  loyal  de- 
fenders of  the  empire. 

"In  return  for  their  splendid  services  to  the  empire,  the  Serbs 


THE    IMMEDIATE    CAUSES    OF    THE    WAR  23 

of  Austria  became  victims  of  the  modern  Austrian  policy  of  ex- 
pansion toward  the  ^Egean  Sea.  The  Serb  is  imaginative,  fond 
of  his  national  music  and  poetry  and  of  his  national  costumes,  and 
nothing  in  the  world  can  prevent  him  from  indulging  in  the  sweet 
dreams  of  the  Serb  minstrel  who  sang  of  the  return  of  the  Serb 
glories  of  the  fourteenth  century.  This  is  the  only  offense  of  which 
the  Austrian  Serb  is  guilty,  and  this  offense  constitutes  high  treason 
in  the  Austrian  Empire. 

"The  annexation  by  Austria  of  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina,  the 
home  of  the  flower  of  the  Serb  race,  in  1908,  drove  the  people  to  des- 
peration and  resulted  in  the  Sarajevo  tragedy,  for  which  Austria 
blames  the  Kingdom  of  Servia.  The  Servian  youth  who  fired  the 
shot  is  a  member  of  the  Pan- Serb  propaganda  in  Austria,  but  every 
Serb  in  Austria  is  a  member  of  this  propaganda.  I  am  a  member  of 
it,  although  I  have  lived  in  this  country  since  my  boyhood." 

To  the  testimony  of  Professor  Pupin  (quoted  above)  we  add 
the  illuminating  comments  of  Professor  Alfred  L.  Kroeber,  the  emi- 
nent anthropologist  of  the  University  of  California : 

"The  present  European  situation  reveals  several  outstanding  fea- 
tures which  may  seem  paradoxically  improbable,  but  which  would 
yet  be  indorsed  as  facts  by  students  of  ethnology.  Contrary  to  all 
appearances,  the  responsibility  for  the  war  is  not  to  be  laid  to  the  Ger- 
man Emperor  or  any  individual.  In  the  present  state  of  civilization 
no  more  blame  attaches  to  one  nation  than  to  any  other.  Race  dif- 
ferences and  race  conflicts  are  emphatically  not  at  the  bottom  of  the 
eruption;  and  certain  far-reaching  results  can  even  now  be  set  down 
as  inevitable. 

"The  characteristic  rapid-fire  and  decisive  ultimatums  of  the  Kaiser 
have  spread  the  impression  throughout  the  impartial  portion  of  the 
civilized  world  that  it  is  his  personality  that  has  precipitated  an 
otherwise  preventable  crisis.  Americans  in  particular,  to  whom  con- 
stitutional imperialism  is  almost  unthinkable,  and  therefore  greatly 
exaggerated,  appear  to  feel  keen  sympathy  for  the  unfortunate  pre- 
dicament of  so  sterling  a  people  as  the  Germans,  and  corresponding 
resentment  toward  their  war  lord. 

"Whatever  blame  there  is  attaches  to  the  German  nation,  and 
not  to  the  Kaiser.    For  nearly  fifty  years  Germans  as  a  mass  have 


c   o 


»4t 


THE    IMMEDIATE    CAUSES    OF    THE    WAR  26 

made  their  own  the  blood-and-iron  doctrine  of  Bismarck.  In  spite  of 
organized  socialist  propaganda  and  much  liberal  theoretical  opposi- 
tion, the  German  people  have  believed  that  their  only  hope  as  a 
nation  lay  in  reliance  on  their  sharp  sword  and  strong  arm.  They 
have  grumbled,  but  they  have  willingly  supported  armaments,  con- 
scription, and  an  aggressive  foreign  policy. 

"To  charge  the  Franco-Prussian  War  of  1870  to  the  short-sighted 
ambition  of  Napoleon  III  or  to  give  credit  for  it  to  the  genius  of  Bis- 
marck is  a  favorite  device  of  apologists  for  France  and  admirers 
of  the  great  statesman,  but  it  is  far  from  profound.  At  the  bottom 
of  that  brief  but  decisive  conflict  lay  the  rehabilitation  of  France 
from  the  Napoleonic  catastrophe  of  1815,  the  growth  of  Prussian 
efficiency,  the  slow  solidification  of  the  German  national  sense.  Bis- 
marck only  seized,  as  Napoleon  bungled,  an  opportunity  presented 
in  the  development  of  ethnic  relations.  Like  poor  Louis  Napoleon, 
William  I  bids  fair  to  be  the  world's  scapegoat  for  a  sweep  of  events 
utterly  beyond  his  control. 

"Let  Americans  not  imagine  that  public  sentiment  is  less  powerful 
and  the  popular  will  less  fundamentally  dominant,  even  though  less 
directly  expressed,  in  Germany  than  in  the  United  States.  It  is  Ger- 
many, and  not  the  Kaiser,  that  for  fifty  years — in  a  sense  for  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years — ^has  by  the  mere  fact  of  her  growth  and 
strengthening  been  bringing  on  the  struggle  of  to-day;  and  it  is 
Germany,  the  German  people  and  nation,  that  for  better  or  for  worse 
will  have  to  bear  the  responsibility. 

"On  one  side  Germany  is  currently  represented  as  fired  by  lust 
of  conquest  and  a  boundless  ambition  utterly  disregardf  ul  of  obliga- 
tions or  the  rights  of  others ;  and  the  sentiment  of  most  of  the  civilized 
world  seems  to  sustain  the  verdict.  On  the  other  hand,  Germans 
exalt  the  conduct  of  their  country  as  influenced  only  by  motives  of 
self-preservation  against  the  Russian  desire  for  brutal  world-do- 
minion, British  cold-blooded  calculation  of  profit,  and  the  long-nur- 
tured, revengeful  hatred  of  France. 

"Neither  side  is  at  fault.  Germany  has  for  years  been  hated  by 
Russia,  feared  by  France,  hated  and  feared  by  England,  as  a  men- 
ace is  always  hated  and  feared.  No  one,  individual  or  nation,  can  love 
a  winning  or  even  a  gaining  rival.     Germany  has  been  well  aware 


26 


THE    IMMEDIATE    CAUSES    OF    THE    WAR  ^7 

of  these  national  sentiments,  and,  conscious  of  her  own  strength,  has 
not  sought  the  vain  task  of  dissipating  them,  but  has  fortified  her- 
self against  them.  In  their  own  power,  the  German  people  have 
believed,  lay  their  salvation,  and  not  in  false  friendships  with  dis- 
tanced competitors.  Assured  in  their  minds  of  the  unavoidable  ill 
will  of  their  neighbors,  they  have  come  to  disregard  totally  the  opinion 
of  these  neighbors.  Self-satisfaction  to  the  point  of  arrogance  and 
self-confidence  amounting  almost  to  insult  have  been  the  natural 
result. 

"When  Athens  was  at  the  very  summit  of  her  unparalleled  civiliza- 
tion, when  she  was  producing  Sophocles  and  Phidias  and  Socrates,  the 
attitude  of  the  Greek  world  toward  her  was  absolutely  like  that  of 
Europe  toward  Germany  to-day.  She  was  arrogant,  she  was  over- 
weening, she  was  an  intolerable  menace  to  the  peace  and  to  the 
existence  of  every  other  Greek  state.  The  Peloponnesian  war  was 
brought  on  by  a  direct  and  carefully  considered  act  of  interference  by 
Athens  in  a  quarrel  between  two  cities  with  which  she  had  no  con- 
cern. Corcyra  and  Corinth  parallel  Austria  and  Servia  exactly. 
When  Sparta  called  the  council  of  the  allies  there  was  no  dissentient 
voice  to  the  cry  for  the  need  of  once-and-for-all  curbing  the  over- 
bearing progress  of  the  Athenians.  Athens'  own  allies  were  re- 
luctant and  forced,  or  actuated  only  by  calculated  self-interest.  Be- 
fore the  war  was  done  they  had  either  rebelled  against  her  or  left 
her  coldly  in  the  lurch. 

"The  war  of  to-day  is  continental  and  million-wide;  the  Greek 
wars  were  between  cities  of  thousands  in  one  small  peninsula.  The 
scale  has  changed,  but  the  actuating  principles  are  identical.  The 
cause  of  the  war,  then,  lies  in  the  unavoidable  clash  between  nation 
and  nation. 

"Human  race  means  two  things.  In  the  strict  sense  of  the  phrase, 
it  means  only  the  inherited  bodily  type  and  mental  predisposition  com- 
mon to  a  group  of  people.  A  looser,  popular  extension  makes  race 
signify  the  vaguer  traits  shared  by  masses  of  men,  that  are  larger 
than  political  boundaries.  It  is  with  this  looser  meaning  that  we 
speak  of  an  Anglo-Saxon  and  a  Slavic  race.  In  the  first  or  strict 
anthropological  sense,  there  are  only  three  races  in  Europe :  the  North- 
ern, the  Alpine,  and  the  Mediterranean.   What  do  we  find  about  the 


TWO    POSSIBLE    MAPS    OF    THE     FUTURE 


THE  FUTURE  POLAND 

Suggtttid  Boundarj  of  Poland 
•M<««^re«</7(  InUmaliooal  Bo(j)>d()rita 
SoUofM.lu 


Bj^tritfww.  Edi*^ 


The   Hope  of  a    Restored  Autonomous    Poland    May   Become    an    Important    Factor    in   the    War. 

The  Boundaries  Indicated  in  the  Map  Represent  the   Probable  New  Poland,  at  Present 

Divided   Between   Russia,  Austria,   and   Germany 


From  Nelson's  "War  Atlas." 


Servia,  Even  with  Its  Recently  Enlarged   Boundaries,  Represents  Only  a   Part  of  the   Kingdom 

Which  Fell   Before  the  Turl<ish   Power   in   1389.     The   Map  Shows  a  Possible 

Readjustment   of  the  Austro-Servlan    Frontier 


ftS 


THE    IMMEDIATE    CAUSES    OF    THE    WAR  29 

relation  of  these  races  to  the  political  alignments  ?  Strange  as  it  may- 
seem,  they  have  nothing  to  do  with  each  other.  Every  one  of  the 
nations  involved  includes  millions  of  representatives  of  at  least  two 
of  the  racial  types.  And  members  of  the  same  race  are  enthusias- 
tically fighting  one  another  under  different  national  flags. 

"Even  in  the  looser  interpretation  of  race,  as  due  to  a  common 
language,  religion,  and  trend  of  institutions,  it  is  impossible  to  make 
the  national  grouping  agree  with  the  race  divisions.  Catholic  Austria 
and  Protestant  Germany  are  leagued  against  Catholic  France, 
Protestant  England,  and  Greek  Orthodox  Russia." 


Tne  German  Zeppelin  "Viktoria  Luise" 


30 


CHAPTER  II 

THE    ORIGINAL    CAUSES BOUNDARIES   AND    RACES 

If  we  would  study  intelligently  the  original,  and  perhaps  inevi- 
table, causes  of  the  great  conflict  that  is  devastating  Europe,  we 
must  do  it  with  a  map  of  that  continent  before  us. 

As  civilization  advances  and  population  increases,  the  geographi- 
cal rule  of  nationality  becomes  more  apparent  and  more  insistent. 
That  rule,  briefly  stated,  is,  that  the  tendency  of  mankind  is  to  work 
toward  union  and  centralization  wherever  these  are  indicated  by  natu- 
ral boundaries.  Where  once  were  the  seven  little  kingdoms,  known 
as  the  Heptarchy,  is  now  England;  and  the  Scotland  that  held  aloof 
for  seven  centuries  after  the  union  of  those  petty  kingdoms  is  now  an 
inseparable  member  of  the  United  Kingdom.  On  the  other  hand,  a 
wide  sea  gives  Ireland  the  natural  boundaries  that  promise  the  inde- 
pendence she  has  always  wished  for,  and  she  has  been  held  to  the 
United  Kingdom  only  by  military  power.  She  herself  is  a  combi- 
nation of  four  principalities.  France  also  is  the  result  of  a  union  of 
several  small  kingdoms,  and  so  is  Spain.  In  each  case  the  gravita- 
tion toward  union  was  from  the  same  cause,  lack  of  any  sufficient 
natural  separation.  But  France  and  Spain  never  have  come  to- 
gether, and  probably  never  will,  because  of  the  high  boundary-wall 
of  the  Pyrenees.  Much  later  occurred  the  uniflcation  of  Italy,  and 
later  still  the  consolidation  of  the  German  States.  If  we  extend  our 
inquiry  into  ancient  times,  we  see — instead  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Greece — Attica,  Sparta,  Boeotia,  Argolis,  and  Thessaly.  If  we  turn 
to  the  map  of  our  own  continent,  in  modern  times,  we  see  a  chain  of 
great  lakes  and  a  wide  river  that  form  an  emphatic  natural  boundary ; 
and  familiar  history  narrates  that  the  colonies  south  of  this  boundary 
separated  from  the  mother  country  across  the  sea  and  bound  them- 
selves together  in  a  perpetual  union,  while  the  colonies  on  the  north 
did  not  join  in  the  Revolution,  held  aloof  from  the  Union  (though 

31 


ss 


ORIGINAL    CAUSES 


The  Franco-German  Frontier 


invited  to  enter  it),  and  ultimately  federated  themselves  in  a  strong 
Dominion — and  all  this  though  the  same  language  is  spoken  on  both 
sides  of  the  boundary,  the  same  race  prevails,  and  many  interests  are 
identical.  The  failure  of  the  determined  attempt  to  divide  the 
American  Union  by  the  war  of  1861-'65  was  largely  due  to  the  fact 
that  it  was  a  struggle  against  the  natural  law  of  geographical  neces- 
sity. The  artificial  cause  of  the  war — slavery — being  abolished, 
there  is  no  further  desire  for  disunion. 

Turning  once  more  to  Europe — the  Kingdom  of  Poland  went  out 
of  existence,  the  territory  being  divided  among  its  powerful  neigh- 


BOUNDARIES    AND    RACES 


UBAU 


'^RIGA 


oLinkovo 


Krottingen 

V. 

■--'TILSIT  'l  J 
Insterburqo  i  I  ' 


©DVINSK, 

(DONABURC.) 


Kranz 

sunsbera  ^     oAna*bu 


Putzipo     _ 
._  „    oLatjen-\n;^N2I 

<ftl„;„*'BeIgarri  pRurnmeIsbJ?g\ftripr;fijr^  ^Lycko  7 


KOVNO  ^ 

® 

oWilkoviszk       ©VILNA 
binnen 


Neustreli+2. 
v.  AngermLiKideo 


oPolziA"    '        ia-'r'';''"i"'P°Alten^ieii 

PSchne;clemunhl<?Kulm      "^ylflLo^rT.  . 
^ROMBERG 


oGrodno 


ostaagard  |Pschneidemunhl 
Arnswaldeo       ..••     °         ©    T' 


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i'oldau 


oOs+rolenka 


©  BIELOSTOCK 


,  oi       '-V    .-  ->.  oLipno  oPuItusk 

/  "^     »  oLa'ndsberq /~r  |  V^^.  oPionsk 

BERLIN©         -"^oKuS^ifn—-^     '"H      *i"^^,-/»o,^^tock^_Novogioraresk 
D&nu.iMy-  IPOSEN^         y     WtoclawekN^;;;^^>^\/3-A.be;^ 

I  ^  CD  AM  i^ FORT       Schrimm.-'-irpnrW 


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E^NA^k^.^PRtSSBURG 


CZERNOWITZS. 


•  Frontier  Between   Germany,   Russia  and  Austria-Hungary 

bors,  because  it  had  no  natural  boundaries ;  but  the  smaller  country  of 
Switzerland  maintains  itself  to  this  day,  because  it  is  buttressed  about 
by  great  mountains. 

An  interesting  instance  of  the  occasional  imperfect  application 
of  the  law  is  afforded  by  the  Scandinavian  peninsula.  Sweden  and 
Norway  are  separated  by  a  range  of  mountains  so  moderate  as  to 
form  a  somewhat  unsatisfactory  boundary;  and  in  consequence 
they  are  sometimes  united  and  sometimes  independent  of  each  other, 
as  natural  advantages  or  political  incompatibility  may  for  the  time 
dictate. 


34 


ORIGINAL    CAUSES 


RlOA 
I.I8A.U 

MtMBW  Ht    \J      g      ^     I.  A  J^ 


^^l^^^*^^"^^"^^ 


Boundaries  of  Central   Europe   in   1816 

Two  other  elements  make  for  union  or  separation,  sometimes  in 
harmony  with  the  geographic  law,  and  sometimes  in  conflict  with  it. 
These  are  race  and  religion.  The  assumption  that  a  difference  of 
race  or  tribe  necessitates  antagonism  originated  in  primitive  barbar- 
ism and  has  been  only  slowly  outgrown  in  the  progress  of  civilization. 
It  was  doubtless  owing  to  this  that  when  the  Continent  of  North 
America  was  discovered  the  Indians  that  roamed  over  it  were  esti- 
mated at  not  more  than  three  hundred  thousand,  as  the  tribes  had 
been  continuously  at  war  with  one  another.  A  Casar  or  a  Na- 
poleon may  go  out  with  great  armies  and  conquer  extensive  terri- 
tories ;  but  if  in  doing  so  they  overleap  natural  boundaries  and  ignore 


BOUNDARIES    AND    RACES 


Boundaries  of  Central   Europe  in  1866 


racial  traits  and  traditions,  all  their  conquests  lapse  back  in  a  few 
years.  William  of  Normandy  crossed  the  Channel  and  conquered 
England;  but  his  successors  could  not  keep  both  England  and 
Normandy;  and  the  conquered  Saxons  and  the  conquering  Normans 
soon  merged  into  a  new  English  nation. 

Desire  for  alienation,  or  a  clannish  spirit,  because  of  difference 
or  identity  of  religious  belief,  no  longer  plays  the  part  that  it  once 
played  in  the  comity  of  nations.  Yet  many  peoples  are  still  slow 
to  learn  the  obvious  truth  that  religion  is  purely  an  affair  between 
each  individual  soul  and  its  Creator,  and  State-prescribed  religion 


se 


ORIGINAL    CAUSES 


^^M  TEUTONIC 
^m^  ANGLO-SAXON 


UTIN 
1  GREEK 


I  SLAV 
RUMANIAN 


THE     RACIAL     MAP     OF     EUROPE 

Of  the  Areas  Showing  White,  Switzerland    Is  a   Mixture  of  French,   Germans  and   Italians;   Part 

cf  Hungary  Is  Magyar,  a    Race  Allied  to  the   Finns;  Turkey   Is   Inhabited   by  a    Race 

of  Asiatic  Origin,   and   the  Albanians  Are  a   Mixture  of   the   Descendants 

of    the    Ancient    lllyrians    with    Greeks    and    Slavs 

is  not  really  religion  at  all — is  merely  ecclesiasticism.     Hence  the 
blending  of  religious  lines  with  political  lines. 

Looking  now  at  a  map  of  Europe  that  is  at  once  geographical  and 
ethnological,  we  see  how  few  are  the  natural  boundaries,  and  how 
many  the  ethnical  separations — the  separations  inciting  to  contest, 
and  the  lack  of  natural  boundaries  at  once  increasing  this  incitement 
and  diminishing  the  means  of  self-defense.  This  smallest  of  the 
continents,-  situated  in  the  North  Temperate  Zone  (most  favorable 
for  trade),  and  having  an  extensive  sea-front  (most  favorable  to 
soil  and  climate)  possesses  every  condition  for  steady  increase  of 
population;  and  as  this  approaches  congestion  there  is  temptation 


BOUNDARIES    AND    RACES 


37 


^^^1      German 
I         \    iMagyar 


Rumanian 


Bohemian 

L_J 

RUTflENIAN 

Croato-Serbian 

Italian 

Slovenian 

iii 

Polish 

The   Racial   Patchwork  of  the   Austro-Hungarian    Empire 


to  seize  upon  pretexts  for  encroaching  upon  neighboring  territory. 
This  condition  of  things  is  intensified  by  the  forms  of  government 
and  structure  of  society  that  maintain  class  distinctions  and  tend  to 
suppress  individual  ambition.  The  steady  stream  of  emigration 
that  has  been  in  fullest  flow  for  several  years  hardly  relieves  the 
pressure;  because  wherever  living  is  made  easier,  increase  of  popula- 
tion is  accelerated.  Where  civilization,  as  we  know  it,  is  not  far  ad- 
vanced, a  mingling  of  races  appears  only  to  weaken  the  country  that 
embraces  them,  because  each  race  clings  to  its  traditions  and  preju- 
dices. 

This  is  especially  the  case  in  southeastern  Europe.  Austria- 
Hungary  includes  in  her  population  Bohemians,  Moravians,  Poles, 
Ruthenians,  Croats,  Serbs,  Slovaks,  Morlaks,  Bulgarians,  Italians, 
Armenians,  Magyars,  Germans,  Rumanians,  Jews,  and  Gipsies,  and 
of  all  the  great  Powers  Austria  is  notably  the  weakest,  forever 
in  danger  of  disruption.  An  American  naturally  contrasts  this  with 
our  own  country,  where  we  have  many  races,  but  great  strength — 


ORIGINAL    CAUSES 


The  German  Possessions  in  the  Pacific 


because  we  send  their  children,  without  distinction,  to  the  same  pub- 
lic schools,  have  the  same  opportunities  open  to  every  race  and  creed, 
and  the  same  liberty  and  protection  for  all.  The  surprise  of  Ameri- 
cans when  the  Balkan  States  failed  to  confederate  after  they  had 
virtually  driven  the  Turk  out  of  Europe — such  a  confederation  seem- 
ing to  us  inevitable — would  have  been  less  if  we  had  considered 
how  those  little  States  cling  to  their  nice  race  distinctions  and  cher- 
ished traditions.  And  any  criticism  of  their  imwisdom  must  be  tem- 
pered by  remembrance  of  the  difficulties  that  were  encountered  in 
bringing  the  thirteen  American  colonies  together  under  a  national  con- 
stitution only  a  century  and  a  quarter  ago. 

To  the  circumstances  here  set  forth,  which  keep  Europe  in  a  state 
of  unstable  equilibrium  and  have  led  to  numerous  armed  conflicts, 
must  be  added  one  other,  greater  than  any  of  them,  and  sometimes 
seemingly  greater  than  all.  It  has  been  known  as  "the  Eastern  ques- 
tion." Russia  is  an  enormous  empire  in  the  center  of  a  huge  con- 
tinent— for  Europe  and  Asia  are  practically  one  continent — with  no 
sufficient  approach  to  the  sea.  She  claims  her  share  in  the  opportuni- 
ties of  world-commerce,  and  seeks  a  proper  outlet  to  the  highway  of 


BOUNDARIES    AND    RACES  39 

nations.  This  the  European  Powers  have  long  combined  to  deny  her. 
The  costly  Crimean  War  of  1854-'55,  when  she  was  assailed  by  Eng- 
land, France,  Sardinia,  and  Turkey,  had  no  other  motive.  Half  a 
century  later,  when,  with  admirable  enterprise,  she  had  built  a  railroad 
across  the  then  dreary  length  of  Siberia,  and  sought  an  outlet  on  the 
Pacific,  the  ocean  of  the  future,  up  rose  nimble  Japan  to  play  in  the 
East  the  same  part,  from  the  same  motive,  that  England  and  France 
had  played  in  the  West.  After  each  repulse  Russia  slowly  and  pa- 
tiently gathers  her  strength  for  another  attempt.  She  is  now  double- 
tracking  the  Siberian  railroad  and  improving  it  throughout;  short 
branches  extend  on  either  side  at  frequent  intervals,  villages  and  farm- 
steads spring  up  all  along  the  line,  and  the  once  forbidding  territory 
is  developing  into  a  land  of  content.  Russia  never  will  cease  her  peri- 
odical attempts  to  secure  a  coastal  outlet  until  one,  at  least,  is  accorded 
to  her;  and  if  her  next  trial  is  toward  the  Pacific,  Japan  is  not  likely  to 
repeat  the  triumph  of  1904. 

The  difficulty  of  judging  this  gigantic  and  complicated  war,  whicK 
involves  nearly  all  Europe — a  difficulty  that  is  almost  made  an  impos- 
sibility by  the  daily  receipt  of  contradictory  reports- — may  be  relieved 
somewhat,  if  not  fully,  by  remembering  a  principle  taught  us  by 
nearly  all  modern  wars — namely,  that  all  modern  wars  end  in  the  de- 
feat of  the  combatant  in  whose  territory  they  are  waged. 


40 


CHAPTER    III 

MOBILIZATION 

Many  readers  are  asking,  "What  is  the  meaning  of  the  word 
'mobihzation,'  which  has  occurred  so  often  in  the  despatches  and  edi- 
torials concerning  the  war?"  The  answer  "Look  in  the  dictionary" 
is  not  satisfactory  to  all,  and  indeed  the  term  deserves  a  more  ex- 
tended explanation  than  can  be  found  in  any  dictionary. 

To  begin  with  a  simple  illustration,  many  of  us,  as  individuals, 
are  mobilized  every  morning.  The  brief  definition  of  the  word  is, 
to  put  into  complete  condition  for  moving,  or  for  being  moved.  When 
we  say  of  an  actor  that  "he  has  a  mobile  face,"  we  are  using  the  root 
of  the  same  word;  we  mean  that  the  muscles  of  his  face  are  so  com- 
pletely under  his  control  that  he  can  move  them  quickly  from  one 
aspect  or  expression  to  another. 

When  a  man  rolls  out  of  bed  at  the  proper  hour  in  the  morning, 
he  must  be  mobilized.  First,  he  wants  a  bath;  then  he  puts  on  his 
garments,  or  some  of  them;  then  he  shaves,  unless  he  wears  a  full 
beard ;  then  he  has  his  breakfast,  and  looks  at  the  morning  paper ;  then 
he  consults  his  wife  as  to  the  domestic  program  for  the  day;  then, 
if  it  is  stormy,  he  gets  his  overcoat,  his  overshoes,  his  umbrella; 
then  he  fills  his  cigar-case;  then  he  makes  sure  that  he  has  a  few 
nickels  in  his  pocket  for  car-fares ;  then  he  kisses  his  wife  and  children 
good-by  for  the  day.  Now  that  man  is  completely  mobilized — ^that 
is  to  say,  he  is  prepared  to  move  from  his  home  to  his  place  of  business. 

The  mobilization  of  an  army  is  essentially  the  same  thing,  on  a 
vastly  greater  scale ;  it  is  getting  the  army  together,  in  perfect  order, 
with  all  necessary  outfits,  so  that  it  is  prepared  to  move  as  a  unit 
against  the  enemy,  or,  in  a  good  position,  withstand  the  assaults  of 
its  opponent. 

Even  with  the  best  prepared  people,  the  mobilization  of  a  large 
army  requires  an  appreciable  amount  of  time.     Let  us  suppose  that 

41 


42 


MOBILIZATION 


Canadian  Soldier  Kissing  His  Little  Girl   Good-bye 


every  man  of  military  age  in  the  realm  has  been  drilled  and  disciplined 
in  the  school  of  the  soldier.  This  is  the  case  in  most  of  the  countries 
of  continental  Europe.  They  are  not  all  with  the  colors  at  the  same 
time.  A  part  have  served  there  the  required  period,  and  returned  to 
their  homes,  to  be  on  call  if  wanted.  When  an  emergency  arises,  and 
a  large  army  is  needed  for  active  operations  in  the  field,  they  are 
called  out — ^many  of  them  from  distant  points.  Some  are  cultivating 
their  farms,  some  are  in  workshops,  some  in  trade,  some  in  univer- 
sities, some  are  traveling  abroad.  If  they  have  been  drilled  and 
apportioned  properly,  every  man  knows  his  place. 


MOBILIZATION 


43 


But  calling  the  men  together  is  only  one  item  in  the  gigantic 
task.  Some  wise  commander  said  long  ago  that  "an  army  moves  on 
its  belly,"  which  means  that  it  can  hardly  move  at  all  unless  it  is 
regularly  and  sufficiently  fed.  The  great  success  of  General  Grant 
in  the  American  Civil  War  was  partly  owing  to  the  fact  that  he 
always  saw  to  it  that  his  army  was  properly  fed.     To  feed  a  great 


Called  to  the  Colors — German   Reservists  Going  to  Their  Stations 


army,  it  is  necessary  not  only  to  obtain  the  food  (not  all  of  which  can 
be  stored  up  beforehand) ,  but  to  get  it  where  it  is  wanted  and  have 
it  in  the  hands  of  competent,  trained  men,  who  know  how  to  distribute 
it  day  by  day,  so  that  no  soldier  shall  go  hungry.  This  requires 
not  only  a  special  organization  but  great  trains  of  wagons,  with  their 
horses  or  mules  and  their  drivers.  Animals  eat,  as  well  as  men,  and 
forage  has  to  be  provided  for  both  the  cavalry  horses  and  the  draft 
animals — those  that  draw  the  wagons  and  those  that  draw  the  guns. 
The  amount  of  lead  and  iron  that  is  fired  away  in  every  battle  is 


"IT'S    A     LONG     WAY     TO     TIPPERARY" 

Everywhere,  on   the   March,   in    Camp    and   on   the   Field   of    Battle,    English   Troops    Are   Singing 

This  Now  Famous  Song.      It  Has  Even  Been  Caught  up  by  Their  French  Allies,  Who 

Have    Rendered    the    First    Line,    "II    y    a    bien    loin    d'ici    a    Tipperary." 

Here  Is  the  Refrain  of  Britain's  New  Battle  Song: 


It's  a  long  way  to  Tipperary, 
It's  a  long:  way  to  go. 

It's  a  long  way  to  Tipperary 
To  the  sweetest  girl  I  know. 


Good-by,  Piccadilly! 

Farewell,   Leicester  Square! 
It's  a  long,  long  way  to  Tipperary, 

But  my  heart's  right  there. 


44 


MOBILIZATION 


45 


enormous.  It  has  been  estimated  that  this  is  nearly  equal  to  a  man's 
weight  for  every  man  that  is  killed.  To  keep  an  army  supplied  with 
ammunition  requires  another  very  large  train.  And  these  trains 
must  be  sufficiently  guarded  every  day  and  hour ;  for  an  enemy  is  al- 
ways looking  for  an  opportunity  to  capture  them  or  blow  them  up 
or  burn  them,  which  is  quite  as  bad  for  the  army  as  a  defeat  at  the 


The  "Queen's  Own"   Leaving  Toronto  for  England 


front.  To  a  certain  extent  an  invading  army  can  forage  on  the  coun- 
trj'-;  but  this  seldom  lasts  long,  and  supplies  must  be  brought  from 
home. 

In  every  army,  however  successful,  large  numbers  of  men  are 
wounded  in  battle  or  fall  ill  by  the  wayside.  Hence  the  medical 
corps,  which  must  be  as  carefully  organized  and  fully  supplied  as  any 
other.  One  of  the  peculiar  cruelties  of  war  consists  in  shutting  out 
from  a  blockaded  country  or  an  invested  city  the  drugs  and  medi- 
cines that  are  necessary  for  the  sick  and  the  wounded.     With  the 


a 
Z    "O 

o  .2 

—    c 
I-     re 

N     E 


m  < 


46 


MOBn.IZATION 


47 


medical  corps  go  the  Red  Cross  and  other  nurses,  for  duty  in  the  field 
or  in  hospitals. 

Usually  there  is  need  of  a  signal  corps  to  accompany  the  army, 
and  this  must  be  organized  and  equipped.  It  is  common,  in  modern 
times,  for  the  wings  of  an  army  and  the  headquarters  to  be  in  con- 
stant communication  by  telegraph ;  and  this  requires  field  instruments 
and  a  staif  of  expert  operators. 

At  the  same  time,  the  commander-in-chief  and  his  staff  must  de- 
termine which  troops  to  call  together  and  which  to  leave  where  they 


ORDR£ 

IE  NOBtiJs  iTio\  mmm 

,  _  ^    _V^i 


The  French  Order  of  Mobilization 


are;  for  it  will  often  happen  that  some  strategic  points  of  great 
importance  are  already  guarded,  and  their  defenders  must  not  be  re- 
moved. Or,  again,  seasoned  soldiers  may  be  withdrawn  from  a  forti- 
fied position  and  less  experienced  ones  sent  to  take  their  place;  and 
the  army  is  made  up  of  definite  proportions  of  infantry,  cavalry, 
and  artillery — varying  somewhat  according  to  the  country  in  which 
it  is  to  operate. 

When  all  this  complicated  problem  has  been  solved,  and  the  re- 
sulting tasks  accomplished,  that  army  is  completely  mobilized — it  is 
ready  to  move  as  a  unit. 

The  problem  of  mobilization  presents  some  variations  in  each 
coimtry.  Probably  Germany's  facilities  for  it  are  somewhat  superior 
to  any  other.  Her  people  do  not  speak  various  languages,  as  do  those 
of  Austria.  Her  territory  is  not  so  large  as  that  of  Russia,  and  is 
better  provided  with  railways.    She  has  a  central  position,  which  gives 


D)  5 


48 


MOBILIZATION 


49 


A   Detachment  of   Uhlans   in   South   Africa 


her  the  interior  lines  as  compared  with  any  neighbor — always  an  ad- 
vantage either  in  tactics  or  in  grand  strategy.  She  has  adopted  power- 
ful automobile  trucks  for  moving  her  heavy  guns,  instead  of  draft 
animals,  which  is  a  great  improvement  as  well  as  a  great  expense. 
And  finally,  if  there  is  any  difference  in  the  approach  to  perfection  in 
the  drilling  and  discipline  of  the  men,  the  advantage  lies  with  Ger- 
many. 

France  has  not  so  many  men  of  military  age  as  Germany  has, 
and  she  has  not  drilled  them  so  strenuously;  and  there  is  a  difference 
between  the  men  themselves.  The  German  is  usually  very  much  in 
earnest  about  everything  he  undertakes.  He  is  always  serious,  and 
usually  stubborn.  The  Frenchman  is  of  lighter  build  intellectually, 
has  more  sense  of  humor,  is  inclined  to  think  of  other  things  besides 
the  one  immediately  in  hand.  Consequently,  he  is  seldom  so  terribly 
in  earnest  as  the  German.    With  his  songs  and  his  witty  sayings  he 


50 


MOBILIZATION 


51 


French  Reservists  Reporting   at  the  IVIiiitary  Bureau 


sometimes  gives  a  fringe  of  lightness  to  the  sober  realities  of  war. 
Yet  France  does  not  always  forget  the  lessons  of  experience,  and 
the  French  are  keen  at  invention.  It  is  said,  on  good  authority,  that 
the  field  artillery  of  the  French  is  markedly  superior  to  that  of  the 
Germans.  As  France  is  a  republic,  her  Government  cannot  be  ex- 
pected to  have  quite  so  free  a  hand  in  preparing  for  possible  war,  or 
even  in  promptly  meeting  the  necessities  of  actual  war,  as  a  strong 
monarchy.  A  ministry  may  fall,  or  a  president  lose  his  office,  in 
consequence  of  an  error  that  is  not  fatal;  but  a  dynasty  is  not  easily 
changed  or  abolished.  Hence  the  rigor  of  the  service,  and  the  conse- 
quent rapidity  of  mobilization  never  can  be  the  same  in  a  republic 
as  in  an  empire. 

Mobilization  in  Russia  has  the  advantage  of  a  completely  auto- 
cratic government,  together  with  some  disadvantages,  the  chief  of 
which  are  the  greater  extent  of  territory  over  which  the  troops  are 
spread  in  time  of  peace,  and  the  lower  scale  of  intelligence  of  the 
private  soldiers.  These  are  usually  heavy  physically  and  apparently 
,  somewhat  stolid  mentally.    But  they  obey  orders  without  hesitation. 


(li     CO  (0 

<       .1 

CQ      D)c 
W      C    o 

<li 

I-  ns 

1)  Si 


5S 


MOBILIZATION 


63 


and  when  skilfully  handled  bear  down  on  an  enemy  like  a  cyclone.  It 
was  said  by  observers  of  the  recent  war  between  Russia  and  Japan 
that  the  Russian  service,  as  to  its  officers,  was  honej^combed  with  dis- 
loyalty. But  so  far  as  we  can  judge  there  has  been  no  appearance 
of  that  in  the  present  contest.  Russia  is  a  great  country  in  men 
and  material  resources — a  slow  mover — but  when  her  vast  armies  are 


French  Girls  Cheering  Soldiers  Leaving  Paris  for  the  Front 


in  the  field,  she  is  a  dread  power  to  be  reckoned  with.     Within  her 
own  borders  she  produces  everything  needed  for  an  army. 

England,  planted  behind  her  "watery  wall,"  and  with  a  navy 
that  makes  her  mistress  of  the  seas,  has  felt  safe  in  maintaining  a 
comparatively  small  standing  army  of  volunteers,  with  no  compul- 
sory service.  When  a  war  breaks  out  in  which  she  is  involved,  she  has 
no  trouble  in  getting  volunteers,  and  from  their  general  intelligence 
and  knowledge  of  the  world — consequent  upon  her  world-wide  em- 
pire— they  can  be  converted  into  effective  soldiers  much  quicker  than 
most  others.  Nevertheless,  her  mobilization  must  necessarily  be  slow 
in  comparison,  because  she  must  first  make  many  of  the  soldiers 
from  raw  material  before  she  can  mobilize.    One  of  the  wonders  of 


54 


MOBILIZATION 


German   Reservists   Leaving  Their  Village 


the  present  war  is  the  fact  that  British  troops  serving  in  India  are  on 
their  way  to  Europe,  first  crossing  the  Pacific  and  then  passing 
through  Canada,  to  take  Atlantic  shipping  at  ^lontreal. 

Belgium,  a  small  countn,^  the  most  densely  populated  in  Europe, 
would  naturally  find  it  comparatively  easy  to  mobilize  her  forces  for 
service  on  her  own  soil;  and  this  was  proved  bj^  the  celerity  with 
M'hich  she  brought  them  together  and  presented  a  strong  embattled 
front  to  the  invading  Germans. 

When  a  government  announces  that  it  maintains  an  attitude  of 
neutrality,  but  will  mobilize  its  forces,  it  is  to  be  understood  that  no 
complete  mobilization  is  to  be  expected,  but  only  one  that  could  be 
completed  quickly  in  an  emergency. 

In  England  the  problem  of  the  immediate  mobilization  of  the 
regular  army  is  comparatively  simple.  England's  army  is  composed 
of  professional  soldiers,  not  a  few  of  whom  have  served  almost  the  full 
term  of  twenty-one  years,  though  the  ordinary  period  of  enlistment  is 
seven  years  "with  the  colors"  and  five  years  with  the  reserve.  The  mo- 
bilization of  such  troops  consists  largely  in  calling  the  reserves  to  the 
regular  battalions  to  which  they  are  attached  and  conveying. them  to 


MOBILIZATION 


65 


■  > 

French  Siege  Artillery  Mobilizing 


the  great  regular  camps  of  the  United  Kingdom  such  as  Aldershot,  in 
England,  and  The  Curragh,  in  Ireland,  whence  they  are  forwarded  to 
the  seaports  from  which  they  are  to  embark.  Infantry  can  be  trained 
to  march,  maneuver,  and  handle  the  rifle  sufficiently  well  to  be  able  to 
take  the  field  in  a  few  weeks ;  but  infantry  is  useless  without  cavalry, 
artillery,  and  engineers,  and  the  training  of  men  in  these  branches  of 
the  service  requires  much  more  time.  It  is  highly  important,  also,  that 
cavalry,  infantry  and  artillery  should  become  accustomed  to  coopera- 
tive tactics,  necessitating  practice  maneuvers  on  a  considerable  scale. 
In  continental  Europe  the  problem  of  providing  sufficient  trained 
men  to  take  the  field  on  short  notice  has  been  solved  by  the  highly 
efficient  system  of  universal  compulsory  military  service.  Over  the 
greater  part  of  Europe,  in  each  year  on  a  specified  date,  all  the  young 
men  who  have  just  passed  their  twentieth  birthday  present  themselves 
at  various  military  depots.  In  France,  which  has  been  striving  desper- 
ately for  years,  in  the  face  of  an  increasing  disparity  in  population, 
to  keep  her  army  on  a  footing  nearly  equal  to  that  of  Germany,  no 


56 


MOBILIZATION 


67 


German  Soldiers  Resting  After  March  in  Beigium 


youth  who  is  physically  fit  can  escape  his  three  years  of  militaiy  serv- 
ice ;  but  Germany  has  a  yearly  surplus  of  recruits  whom  she  places  in 
a  special  class,  known  as  the  Ersatz,  or  "Compensatory,"  Reserve,  to 
be  used  to  supply  the  losses  of  war  when  the  occasion  arises.  Russia 
is  also  in  the  enviable  military  situation  of  having  more  available 
soldiers  than  she  knows  what  to  do  with. 

For  two  or  three  years  these  young  men  receive  the  grueling  train- 
ing that  is  necessary  to  make  a  soldier.  Then  they  pass,  for  a  period 
varying  from  five  to  eleven  years,  according  to  the  country  in  which 
they  happen  to  be  born,  into  the  first  reserve,  and  although  they  are 
free  to  pursue  their  callings  in  civil  life,  they  are  formally  enrolled  as 
members  of  some  reserve  regiment  or  battery  during  this  whole  time. 

Behind  the  active  reserves  are  men  of  older  years,  who  have  set- 
tled down  in  business  and  home  life.  These  men,  until  they  have 
reached  the  age  of  forty-five  or  forty-eight  years,  are  nevertheless 
included  as  members  of  second  and  third  reserve  organizations,  and 
are  liable  to  call  in  case  the  emergency  demands  their  presence  either 
at  the  front,  in  garrisons,  or  protecting  lines  of  communication,  thus 
releasing  younger  men  for  more  active  duty. 


O) 

>. 

3 

fc 

rt 

t. 

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c 

o 

£ 

o 

in 

58 


MOBILIZATION 


59 


German   Baggage  Train 


Mobilization  is  primarily  concerned  with  the  regular  forces  and 
the  incorporation  into  them  of  the  active  reserves.  Just  how  each 
nation  has  solved  its  own  problem  has  not  yet  been  divulged,  but  cer- 
tain features  connected  with  the  regular  peace  organization  make  it 
likely  that  France  formed  a  large  part  of  her  reserves  into  divisions, 
adding  one  reserve  division  to  the  two  divisions  of  which  each  Army 
Corps  is  normally  composed.  Germany,  on  the  other  hand,  probably 
mobilized  her  reserves  in  the  smaller  units  of  brigades,  uniting  one 
reserve  brigade  to  the  two  brigades  that  form  a  division  in  time  of 
peace.  In  order  to  provide  for  the  ready  assimilation  of  the  reserves, 
the  regular  battalions  are  always  proportionately  over-ofRcered  in 
time  of  peace. 

All  the  problems  relating  to  mobilization  and  the  massing  of 
armies  in  their  positions  along  the  frontier  are  worked  out  by  the  Gen- 
eral Staff  of  each  country.  These  highly  educated  and  exceedingly 
able  men,  who  are  naturally  officers  of  high  rank,  have  for  years  been 
busy  with  plans  for  the  contingency  of  war,  and  every  detail  of  the 


60 


MOBILIZATION 


61 


The  Camp  at  Vesoul,  a  French   Mobilization  Center 


preparation  for  invasion  or  counter-attack  has  long  been  made. 
Every  general  officer  knows  the  task  assigned  to  him  and  complete 
arrangements  for  transport  of  men,  animals,  guns,  and  provisions  is 
made  long  in  advance.  Every  soldier,  when  he  receives  notice  to  join 
the  colors,  instantly  leaves  his  home  with  his  little  bundle,  and,  often 
with  his  wife  and  children  beside  him,  walks  to  the  barracks  and  dons 
the  uniform. 

The  German  Army  Corps  system,  copied  by  all  the  Continental 
nations,  has  made  swift  mobilization  possible.  Each  army  corps, 
which  is  really  a  small  independent  army,  consisting  of  all  arms — 
cavalry,  artillery,  infantry  and  engineers — is  recruited  in  the  region 
immediately  surrounding  its  headquarters.  Reserves  have  therefore, 
as  a  rule,  only  a  short  distance  to  go  in  order  to  join  their  regiments. 
When  every  man  is  with  his  army  corps  and  the  army  corps  is  ready 
to.  entrain  or  march  to  the  place  assigned  it  in  the  grand  strategic 
plans  of  the  Commander-in-chief — or  Chief  of  the  General  Staff,  as 
he  is  usually  known  in  time  of  peace — the  country's  first-line  forces 
are  mobilized.     It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  active  or  mobile 


blAGFlAM     OF    AN     ARMY     CORPS    AND     TRAIN 


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howitzer  battery     howitzer  battery 


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AMMUNITION 
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This  diatrram  shows  the  composition  of  the  German  army 
corps,  which  all  other  nations  have  taken  more  or  less  closely 
as  a  pattern.  The  rectangles  show  the  component  units, 
but  their  comparative  size  bears  no  relation  to  the  numerical 
strength  of  the  units  represented.  In  time  of  peace  some 
German  infantry  divisions  are  composed  of  three  brigades 
instead  of  two  as  shown  in  this  diagram,  which  suggests  that 
it  was  intended  to  expand  all  the  army  corps  on  the  outbreak 
of  war  by  incorporating  one  reserve  brigade  with  the  two 
regular  brigades,  with  proportionate  increase  in  the  artillery. 
The  number  of  cavalry  apportioned  to  an  army  corps  is 
variable,  depending  upon  the  nature  of  the  country  in  which 
it  is  operating.  The  war-strength  of  an  army  corps  of  two 
divisions  of  two  brigades  each  is  about  30,000  combatants. 
The  strength  of  an  army  corps  of  two  divisions  having  three 
brigades  each  is  about  43,000  combatants.  From  seven  to 
nine  thousand  non-combatants  are  required  in  the  supply  train, 
hospital  section,  etc.  The  relative  strength  of  each  arm  in 
men  is  roughly:  infantry,  25,000;  artillery,  4,500;  cavalry, 
1,000.  The  small  number  of  cavalry  is  accounted  for  by 
the  fact  that  cavalry  is  not  so  closely  associated  with  infantry 
as  artillery,  and  is  organized  in  independent  divisions. 

The  relative  strength  of  all  classes  of  troops  in  the  German 
armv  is  as  follows:  Infantry.  63.81^^^;  cavalrj-,  11.56%;  field 
artillery,  10.99%;  foot  artillery,  3.88%;  coast  artillery, 
0.33%;  technical  troops  (engineers,  etc.),  4.21%,;  train,  1.26%; 
sanitary  troops,  1.04%;  miscellaneous,  2.02%. 

The  rank  of  general  officers  assigned  to  various  commands  is 
somewhat  arbitrary,  and  each  nation  has  its  own  peculiar 
practice.  In  Germany,  an  officer  bearing  the  title  of  General 
of  Infantry,  General  of  Artillery  or  General  of  Cavalrv 
commands  an  army  corps.  Above  generals  of  this  rank 
come  Colonel-Generals  and  Marshal-Generals.  Next  be- 
low Generals  of  Infantry,  etc.,  come  Deutenant-Gen- 
erals  (commanding  divisions)  and  Major-Generals  (com- 
manding brigades).  In  the  French  army  the  respective 
ranks  are  Generals,  Generals  of  Division,  and  Generals  of 
Brigade.  In  the  British  army,  a  brigade  is  usually  command- 
ed by  the  senior  colonel,  Brigadier-General  being  only  a 
temporary  title  and  not  a  permanent  rank;  a  division  is 
commanded  by  a  Major-General;  an  army  corps  by  a  Lieu- 
tenant-General;  and  two  or  more  army  corps,  constituting  an 
army,  by  a  General  or  a  P'ield  Marshal.  Field  Marshal 
is  an  honorary  rank  bestowed  upon  distinguished  generals. 
The  commands  of  regimental  officers  also  vary  according  to 
the  country.  In  England,  a  Colonel  commands  a  regiment; 
a  Lieutenant-Colonel  a  battalion;  a  Major  a  half -battalion; 
a  Captain,  assisted  by  two  Lieutenants,  a  company.  In  the 
French  and  German  armies,  where  the  regiments  have  three 
or  more  battalions,  a  Colonel,  assisted  by  a  Lieutenant- 
Colonel,  commands  a  re^ment,  with  a  Major  to  each 
battalion.     Batteries  of  artillery  are  commanded  by  Majors. 


6^ 


MOBILIZATION  66 

||*eserves  are  all  men  who  have  been  graduated  from  the  regular  army 
f/^not  more  than  five  or  six  years  at  the  most,  and  who,  after  a  few  weeks 
of  hardening,  are  just  as  good  as  the  men  with  the  colors. 

The  mobilization  of  the  reserves  of  the  second  and  third  line  is 
naturally  a  much  more  deliberate  proceeding  than  the  feverish  em- 
bodiment of  the  first  army.  Men  from  about  twenty-seven  to  thirty- 
nine  years  form  the  second  reserve.  They  may  be  mobilized  in  com- 
plete army  corps  if  necessary,  or  may  be  forwarded  in  smaller  detach- 
ments to  make  up  war  losses,  in  accordance  with  the  strain  at  the 
front. 

As  a  last  resort,  the  reserves  of  the  third  line,  consisting  of  men 
from  about  forty  to  forty-five  years  of  age,  are  called  upon.  The 
tactics  of  the  last  line  are  to  some  extent  those  of  the  guerilla.  They 
wear  no  uniform  and  their  aim  is  to  harass  the  enemy  whenever 
the  opportunity  offers,  by  sharpshooting,  or  "sniping,"  as  it  is  called, 
by  making  night  raids  on  lines  of  communication,  cutting  off  strag- 
glers from  the  enemy's  line  of  march,  and  in  any  other  way  that  the 
ingenuity  of  men  fighting  desperately  for  their  homes  may  suggest. 


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64 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE   NEW   WAEFARE 

Wars  have  been  waged  since  earliest  history — ^bloody  wars,  de- 
structive wars,  but  never  one  hke  this.  The  inventive  genius  of 
the  nineteenth  and  twentieth  centuries  has  produced  many  things  to 
shorten  the  hours  of  labor,  ease  the  strain  on  the  scholar,  and  bring 
both  families  and  nations  into  closer  communication;  and  of  these 
achievements  we  constantly  boast;  but  while  with  one  hand  the 
Genius  of  the  Age  has  wrought  for  the  happiness  of  mankind,  with 
the  other  it  has  multiplied  and  perfected  the  instruments  of  destruc- 
tion, and  all  these  have  come  into  use  in  this  fierce  contest  among  the 
great  nations  of  Europe — apparently  destined  not  only  to  play  their 
new  part  in  the  settlement  of  national  disputes,  but  to  increase  the 
harvest  of  death  and  the  desolation  of  a  million  homes. 

When  the  "wooden  walls"  of  our  fathers  were  shattered  in  the 
shock  of  the  sea  fight,  at  least  there  was  something  afloat  for  the  van- 
quished mariner  to  cling  to ;  but  now  a  thousand  may  go  down  in  their 
great  steel  battle-ship — at  once  a  fortress  and  a  prison — and  not  one 
fragment  of  wreckage  ever  float  above  their  "vast  and  wandering 
grave."  Brave  as  ever  their  hardy  ancestors  were,  they  stand  un- 
flinching at  their  posts  of  duty;  but  they  may  be  denied  the  satis- 
faction of  striking  or  even  seeing  their  enemy,  when  a  sneaking 
submarine  vessel  inflicts  a  fatal  wound  beneath  the  water-line,  and  all 
the  elaborate  and  costly  structure,  with  its  thunderous  armament,  goes 
for  naught.  And,  again,  it  need  not  surprise  us  if  occasionally  two 
of  the  new  dreadnoughts  sink  each  other  and  go  down  at  the  same 
moment. 

The  stone  balls  that  were  hurled  from  the  primitive  cannon  a  lit- 
tle farther  than  the  catapult  could  throw  them  are  succeeded  by  rifled 
bombs  that  weigh  hundreds  of  pounds  and  make  a  flight  of  miles 
or  pierce  a  wall  of  solid  steel  and  burst  on  the  other  side.     The 

65 


A    NEW    PHASE    OF    WARFARE 


German   Zeppelin   of  the  Type  Which    Dropped    Bombs   on    Antwerp 


Havoc  Wrought  by  German  Zeppelin  at  Antwerp 

66 


THE    NEW    WARFARE  67 

muzzle-loading  musket,  which  decided  many  important  conflicts,  is 
succeeded  by  the  breech-loading  repeating  rifle  and  the  machine  guri 
that  pours  out  a  continuous  stream  of  bullets  before  which  no  troops 
can  stand.  And  again  a  battalion  may  be  hurled  into  the  air  by 
the  explosion  of  mines  and  buried  shells  charged  with  a  compound 
twenty  times  as  powerful  as  gunpowder ;  and  into  intrenchments  may 
be  thrown  shells  that  emit  fumes  to  choke  or  poison  many  who  are  not 
struck  by  the  flying  fragments. 

For  centuries  the  comparative  advantages  of  armor  and  weapons, 
fortifications  and  gun-fire,  have  alternated  between  the  offensive  and 
the  defensive,  as  one  device  after  another  has  been  contrived  or  per- 
fected. Most  of  those  here  mentioned  give  the  advantage  to  the  de- 
fenders. In  the  day  of  the  muzzle-loader  the  defenders  could  fire 
one  volley  at  an  approaching  foe,  and  then  the  assailant,  coming  on 
the  run,  was  among  them  with  the  bayonet  before  they  could  reload. 
That  famous  weapon  is  of  little  further  use,  except  as  a  spade  for 
throwing  up  hasty  intrenchments.  A  steady  fire  of  repeating  guns 
will  literally  annihilate  a  charging  column  in  a  few  minutes,  as  has 
been  done  in  early  engagements  of  this  war.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  recent  inventions  for  navigating  the  air  appear  to  throw  the  mar- 
gin of  advantage  again  to  the  side  of  the  assailants.  There  is  far 
less  use  for  spies  and  cavalry  reconnoissances,  when  aviators  can  hover 
over  the  enemy  and,  out  of  easy  reach,  count  his  guns  and  his  forces, 
map  all  his  positions,  and  sometimes  drop  huge  bombs  upon  camps 
and  squadrons.  Another  aviator  may  be  sent  up  to  attack  him;  but 
the  result  is  almost  certain  to  be  the  destruction  of  both.  Thus  is 
realized  the  vision  described  by  the  poet  more  than  seventy  years  ago : 

Heard  the  heavens  fill  with  shouting,  and  there  rained  a  ghastly  dew 
From  the  nations'  airy  navies  grappling  in  the  central  blue. 

The  Genius  of  Invention  is  now  called  upon  to  throw  the  advan- 
tage again  to  the  defensive  by  producing  a  gun  that  will  send  a 
seldom-erring  shot  through  a  machine  that  is  hundreds  of  feet  over- 
head. The  ordinary  large  gun,  if  fired  perpendicularly,  is  liable  to 
burst. 

These  are  the  novel  elements  in  this  tremendous  contest ;  yet,  with 
all  their  appalling  destructiveness,  they  hardly  appear  to  diminish  the 


THE    NEW    WARFARE  69 

ardor  with  which  the  men  on  either  side  rush  to  the  field  that  may  be 
the  field  of  honor,  but  is  less  the  field  of  gloiy  than  the  field  of  death. 
The  Red  Cross  of  mercy  and  the  wonderful  advances  in  medical  and 
surgical  science  do  their  utmost;  but  the  stretchers  and  ambulances 
are  heavily  loaded,  the  hospitals  are  crowded,  and  the  mourning 
homes  are  beyond  counting. 

The  old  theory  that  the  earth  is  finally  to  be  destroyed  by  one 
vast  conflagration  is  brought  vividly  to  mind  when  we  behold  the 
flames  of  war  bursting  out  at  once  over  nearly  the  whole  of  Europe, 
as  if  civilization  and  all  peaceful  progress  were  doomed — not  destroy- 
ing the  land,  to  be  sure,  but  demolishing  the  works  of  man  with  which 
the  land  has  been  cultivated  and  adorned,  sweeping  tens  of  thousands 
of  men  into  untimely  graves,  like  the  dust  to  which  they  so  suddenly 
return,  and  reducing  to  ashes  the  happy  homes  of  their  children. 

Thousands  of  men  in  these  great  armies  must  fall  before  peace  is 
attained,  and  when  peace  does  come  it  will  leave  thousands  of  homes 
desolate  and  the  already  heavy  national  debts  enormously  increased, 
while  every  people  in  the  civilized  world  will  feel  the  efl'ects  of  the 
contest.  Said  George  William  Curtis,  one  of  our  most  eloquent  ora- 
tors, "Every  war  is  long,  though  it  end  to-morrow;  every  battle  is 
terrible,  though  only  your  son  perish."  However  this  contest  may 
terminate,  it  will  leave  an  endless  train  of  sorrows,  hatreds,  and 
despair. 


German    Field    Howitzer 


Anti-aeroplane    Gl^ii 


One  of  the  German  11-in.   Howitzers  That   Battered  the   Forts  at   Li^ge 
SOME    MODERN     IMPLEMENTS    OF    WAR 

70 


CHAPTER  V 

MILITARY   IMPLEMENTS   OF   WAR 

In  the  century  that  has  elapsed  since  Waterloo,  inventive  genius 
has  been  incredibly  busy  in  all  departments  of  mechanics;  but  in  the 
development  of  engines  of  slaughter  it  has  fairly  surpassed  itself. 
Could  the  shades  of  Napoleon,  Wellington,  and  Bliicher  return  to 
their  old  battleground,  once  more  drenched  with  blood,  they  would 
be  astounded  at  the  extraordinary  variety  of  the  instruments  of  de- 
struction at  the  disposal  of  their  successors  in  command  and  at  their 
appalling  precision,  deadliness,  and  range.  It  must  not  be  forgotten, 
however,  that  inventive  skill  has  not  confined  itself  to  offensive  meas- 
ures alone.  Defensive  tactics  have  kept  pace  with  offensive ;  and  de- 
vices for  protection  have  followed  the  introduction  of  new  means  of 
attack.  Notwithstanding  the  terrific  potentialities  of  modern  war 
machinery,  the  present  titanic  conflict  may  prove  therefore  to  be  no 
more  deadly  in  proportion  to  the  numbers  involved  than  those  that 
have  gone  before.  Lovers  of  peace  have  expressed  the  hope  that  those 
who  were  engaged  in  increasing  the  destructive  capacity  of  war 
engines  were  most  efl*ectively  promoting  the  cause  of  universal  peace 
by  making  war  so  deadly  that  human  beings  could  no  longer  engage 
in  it.  This  war  will  demonstrate  whether  this  view  is  well  founded  or 
not.  Be  that  as  it  may,  we  may  at  least  express  the  hope  that  its 
ghastly  spectacles  will  permanently  sate  the  appetite  of  mankind  for 
bloodshed. 

Explosives. — The  motive  power,  so  to  speak,  of  all  the  major  im- 
plements of  modern  warfare  is  explosive  powder  of  one  form  or  an- 
other, and  before  describing  the  implements  themselves  we  will  devote 
a  paragraph  to  the  uncanny  substance  in  which  such  frightful  powers 
of  destruction  are  locked  up. 

"Smokeless  powder"  is  now  in  universal  use.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
however,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  an  absolutely  smokeless  powder,  and 

71 


AUTOMOBILE     GUN,     ESPECIALLY     DESIGNED     FOR    ATTACKING    AIRCRAFT 

Motor  Tractors  and  Guns  Mounted  on  Automobiles  Were  an  Outstanding  Feature  of  the  Swift 

German  Advance  Through    Belgium   and   France 

7^ 


RIFLES    AND    POWDER 


73 


considerable  vapor  is  noticeable  at  the  muzzles  of  all  large  pieces. 
This  is  partly  due  to  the  small  charge  of  black  powder  necessary  to 
explode  them.  The  practical  invisibility  conferred  by  smokeless  pow- 
der is  obviously  of  immense  importance  to  the  combatants.     Smoke- 


BREECM    SHOVvflNG    CARTRID&E&    eNTER\N&    MACAZINE- 


The  New  Short  Rifle  of  the  British  Army 

lessness  is  brought  about  by  the  fact  that  these  powders  leave  no  un- 
consumed  residuum  to  be  blown  out  of  the  muzzle  in  the  form  of 
smoke.  The  chief  ingredients  of  all  modern  powders  are  nitrocellu- 
lose and  nitroglycerine — both  compounds  of  nitric  acid.  Chemically, 
they  are  all  complex  compounds  of  carbon,  hydrogen,  nitrogen  and 
oxygen,  and  their  explosive  power  is  due  to  the  fact  that  they  are 


74  MILITARY    IMPLEMENTS    OF   WAR 

capable  of  suddenly  liberating  volumes  of  their  component  gases  vast 
in  proportion  to  the  bulk  of  the  powder.  Compared  with  old-fash- 
ioned gunpowder,  they  are  "slow-burning"  and  instead  of  adminis- 
tering a  single  sudden  blow  to  the  projectile  they  push  it,  so  to  speak, 
along  the  barrel.  This  has  made  it  possible  to  increase  the  power  of 
the  charge  enormously  without  increasing  the  maximum  pressure  in 
the  bore. 

Smokeless  powders  are  made  in  the  form  of  cubes,  flakes,  or  cords, 
whence  the  name  of  the  English  powder  "cordite."  They  are  usu- 
ally exploded  by  means  of  fulminate  of  mercury  caps.  Most  military 
smokeless  powders  burn  harmlessly  when  merely  ignited.  For  burst- 
ing shells  several  forms  of  picric  acid  (technicalh^  trinitrophenol) 
are  used  under  various  names,  such  as  lyddite  and  melinite.  Picric 
acid  is  a  very  high  explosive.  Recently  a  chemical  substance  known 
as  "trinitrotoluol"  has  been  introduced.  Among  the  advantages 
that  this  has  over  picric  acid  is  that  it  is  less  easily  exploded,  requir- 
ing a  very  heavy  detonating  shock. 

Rifles. — Inasmuch  as  the  bulk  of  the  world's  fighting  on  land  falls 
to  the  lot  of  the  infantrymen,  who  far  outnumber  all  other  arms  of  the 
service,  and  as  the  rifle  is  the  principal  arm  of  the  foot-soldier,  we  may 
justly  regard  it  as  the  most  important  weapon  now  in  use.  In  its 
shortened  form — the  carbine — the  rifle  is  also  used  by  the  cavalry- 
man, and  there  is  a  tendency  in  modern  tactics  toward  the  frequent 
emploj^ment  of  cavalry  as  mounted  infantry,  fighting  with  firearms 
rather  than  with  the  typical  cavalry  weapons — the  sword  and  the 
lance.  These  weapons  may  be  noted  in  passing;  but  as  they  have 
been  used  for  centuries  we  dismiss  them  by  stating  that  the  sword  was 
abandoned  by  British  infantry  officers  during  the  Boer  War,  and 
that  the  value  of  the  clumsy  lance  is  disputed.  The  entire  German 
cavalry,  including  the  Uhlans,  who  figure  so  frequently  in  the  war 
news  of  the  day,  is  armed  with  the  lance. 

Although  the  name  "rifle"  is  applied  specifically  to  the  small  arm 
fired  from  the  shoulder,  all  modern  firearms,  from  the  great  sixteen- 
inch  coast-defense  guns  down  to  the  pocket-pistol,  are  essentially 
rifles,  as  they  all  have  rifled  bores.  That  is  to  say,  they  have  shallow 
spiral  grooves  running  the  length  of  the  inside  of  the  barrel.  These 
spiral  grooves  cause  the  bullet  to  revolve  on  its  own  axis  at  an  exceed- 


RIFLES    AND    POWDER 


75 


ingly  high  rate  (about  4,000  revolutions  a  second).  The  rotatory 
motion  enables  the  bullet  to  travel  over  a  much  flatter  arc  of  flight 
than  one  projected  from  a  smooth-bore  piece,  keeps  it  truer  in  its 
flight,  and  gives  it  higher  penetrating  power.  In  a  rifle  the  grooves 
make  one  complete  turn  of  the  barrel  in  about  eight  inches ;  hence  in 
flight  the  bullet  revolves  once  for  each  eight  inches  it  travels.  All 
modern  military  rifles  have  a  magazine  holding  from  five  to  ten  cart- 
ridges, and  they  are  loaded  by  drawing  back  and  thrusting  forward  a 


^^^A£!*»             .,                     ....       .      .-.:..■. •        • 

■ 

BErn^in'"'*^"^^'      '  ^B^^I^WWM^  ** 

--^^m^i*"^^^^^^^^''  -.■    .-^^^^^^"^«*»^ 

\.     ^^^,jP^ 

f.:~::^^:r*'m^'^  ■'^'?5l*ff'  If^^^^^gM^ 

German  Infantry  with  Mauser  Rifles 

bolt.  These  two  movements  eject  the  empty  shell,  throw  a  new  cart- 
ridge into  the  chamber,  and  cock  the  piece  ready  for  firing.  The  bolt 
can  be  removed,  and  it  is  so  constructed  that  it  can  be  rendered  useless 
by  a  blow  on  some  small  but  essential  part.  Soldiers  are  instructed 
thus  to  disable  their  weapons  in  case  of  a  rout,  in  order  to  prevent 
them  from  being  of  immediate  use  to  the  enemy.  Most  rifle  maga- 
zines are  in  the  form  of  a  metal  box  fitted  belbw  the  chamber ;  but  the 
magazine  of  the  French  Lebel  is  formed  by  a  tube  in  the  wooden 
stock  beneath  the  barrel.  A  "cut-ofl*"  is  usually  provided,  so  that  the 
weapon  may  be  used  as  a  single-shot  piece,  with  the  magazine  held  in 
reserve  for  an  emergency.     The  modern  rifle  fires  a  small,  long  bullet 


76 


MILITARY    IMPLEMENTS    OF    WAR 


having  about  the  diameter  of  a  lead-pencil.  As  lead  could  not  with- 
stand the  pressure  of  the  powerful  powder  charges  now  used,  bullets 
aire  made  with  a  hard  metal  coating  (usually  nickeled  copper)  over  a 
lead  core.  In  order  to  make  these  hard  bullets  engage  the  spiral 
grooves  of  the  barrel,  they  are  made  somewhat  larger  than  the  bore. 
The  characteristic  wound  inflicted  by  the  small  modern  bullet  is  a 


French  Soldiers  with   "Label"   Rifles 


clean-cut  puncture,  and  often  it  will  push  aside  the  smaller  blood- 
vessels. JNIodern  bullet  wounds,  unless  in  a  vital  organ,  are  apt  to 
heal  quickly,  and  men  have  come  out  of  a  campaign  as  well  as  ever 
after  being  bored  through  by  an  astonishing  number  of  these  new 
"humane"  projectiles.  In  warfare  against  savages  a  bullet  with  a 
soft  nose  (known  as  the  "dum-dum")  is  used.  This  expands  on  im- 
pact and  inflicts  a  wound  of  pecuhar  atrocity.  The  same  result  may 
be  achieved  by  filing  off  the  end  of  those  bullets  that  have  a  soft  core. 

The  fact  that  malicious  individual  soldiers  cannot  be  prevented 
from  shdy  filing  their  bullets  accounts  for  the  inevitable  charges  that 
the  enemy  is  using  "dum-dums." 

The  following  table  gives  complete  particulars  of  the  rifles  used 
by  the  chief  military  powers: 


RIFLES 


77 


-  -  -a       :2    . 
«  .§  "I       '»  1 


(M     rH    <«    t~    O 


1=3  a 


>  +j  _^ 


o-   •     S 


5   2i  S 


*    ? 


<0     O  ^  r^ 


95    i-c    O    t-    >0 


O  ■-■    00    <S» 


^     *V    ■*  TT* 


■3  -a    jj  o« 


■*     -H     00    !0     lO 


^  S  ^ 

g      2 


•*    rH    (X    a*    Tj 


>S      "* 


>o  o 


t»    i-l    o    t-    « 


S    »«  Hw  (V     OS  »5    — 


if  !a 


-H  o»  ^-  M 


i    2  "  S 


C8    JS 


i-c    rt    o    O 


3  S^-3  3 


^   9 


«5    25 


S  05 


a  '^ 


=  s  a 
•2     ,1  .a  "^ 


a  -s 


5   S   o 


e  -^ 


£  "K  "o  -3  "o 

■^  o    S3  S  ^ 

•-    -.  j3  ^  -a 

-  2  a  "  .a> 
tj  H  Iz; 


'3     M 


&.2  .S  .2   V 

d      Cj      O)      U)  *^ 


.^  bo  «^ 
'3  a  ftM 
5  _a;    o 


3  3  j;  X  -g 
«  pq  ^  W  ^ 


■^^  a  !K  I"  **  OaS  S 


"^  dja-a-s  «  (*<»•«"" 

^      ^  Bv  o  V  °  o-Ti, 
cs  g  2  a.S       =8  Si-°  t, 

a^  S—  "  t.  S  -  "** 

"  a  2:3  a  2  o  =«  "  -- 

iS        -*^  S      2  5  *  " 

o  rt  o  .So  t>  ^      t»  M 
o.'S  a  °  ft"^  Si's 


.e-o 


£ja  u  a*;  «•«  S^H  o 

ii  5  a.>  b.  fc* -a  aj  n1  ^  a 
!»      — '^  a;  a  =8  t-S  t-.S' 


=•  SSJ  0.S  ^«  a;2--§ 

«  ^S>^  O^  N  o  m-S  a 

°  M  g-i-T3^  «  <u-a 

I-   S   a   2        T- _o  1n   C8   «flj3 

—  a  -^ja  a  t-'S  a>'jH 
a  a-SSwl^  g'^'^i- 
«)>>=aija  o  J,  5:*i  o*i 

-o'S.?«  «  °'-a-_2  s  a-d 

5-S52  ".a"®  2J  «  g^ 

■5-^  >£3-o-^  ^  rt^'-  r^ 

«  o  jgxi.a    .>,a-S& 

■^J^S  cs^  a-ti.^'2-S 

J2.-W  a  _,^  3  a--t!-^ 

S  S  o  S'S^  2^-a  loc 
■"       «  fe  S  S  «  OJ3  g  a 

J3cS3-"t,,.*jM        *f 

_2«  o  M  s  a  <« 

S-'S'a  a      « 
2'2^0"3  a  3  2<'o 


78  MILITARY    IMPLEMENTS    OF    WAR 

The  companion  weapon  of  the  rifle  is  the  bayonet,  which,  affixed  to 
the  muzzle,  converts  the  rifle  into  a  spear  for  use  at  close  quarters.  It 
is  quite  likely  that  when  the  story  of  the  war  is  finally  told,  it  will  ap- 
pear that  the  decisive  charges  have  been  driven  home  by  the  bayonet 
even  as  in  days  of  yore. 

Machine  Guns — IMachine  guns  are  loaded  and  fired  mechanically 
at  high  speed.     They  are  divided  into  two  classes,  those  in  Avhich  the 


Cameron  Highlanders  Operating  a  Maxim  Gun 

feed  is  maintained  by  the  operation  of  a  crank  and  those  which  are 
entirely  automatic.  The  American  Gatling  is  an  example  of  the 
first  type  and  the  English  Maxim  of  the  second.  The  Gatling 
has  ten  barrels  arranged  in  a  circular  group  and  is  fed  from  a  hopper. 
This  hopper  is  filled  with  cartridges  clipped  side  by  side  upon  long 
metal  strips.  The  turn  of  a  crank  throws  a  cartridge  into  the  chamber 
of  each  barrel  in  succession  and  fires  and  ejects  the  empty  shells  in 
rotation.  It  is  capable  of  firing  at  the  terrific  speed  of  1,200  shots  a 
minute.  Although  an  excellent  weapon,  the  Gatling  has  been  super- 
seded in  the  world's  armies  and  navies  by  the  entirely  automatic  gun. 


MACHINE    GUNS 


79 


These  have  only  one  barrel  and  the  mechanism  that  actuates  the 
loading,  firing,  and  ejection  of  the  empty  shells  is  operated  either 
(1)  by  the  recoil  of  the  barrel  or  (2)  by  a  small  amount  of  the  pow- 
der-gas allowed  to  escape  from  a  small  hole  near  the  muzzle  after  the 
passage  of  each  bullet.  Naturally  these  guns  develop  a  tremendous 
amount  of  heat  and  most  of  them  are  cooled  by  a  water-jacket  or  a 
radiator.  Nevertheless  they  have  to  be  allowed  frequent  intervals  of 
rest  for  cooling.     The  English  Maxim,  which  is  the  most  widely  used 


French    Machine   Gun — Gas  Operated  Type 


weapon  of  this  type,  is  operated  bj^  the  recoil  of  the  discharge  at  a 
rate  of  600  shots  a  minute.  It  is  fed  by  woven  belts  of  250  cartridges 
held  side  by  side  in  loops.  The  end  of  the  belt  is  placed  into  the  lock 
and  a  single  cartridge  into  the  chamber.  A  pull  of  the  trigger  fires  the 
first  cartridge  and  starts  the  mechanism.  Empty  shells  fall  in  a 
shower  from  the  side.  Holding  the  trigger  for  just  one  second  will 
speed  seven  shots  on  their  way.  The  ordinary  infantry  cartridge  is 
used  in  the  standard  weapon;  but  automatic  guns  firing  as  large  a 
missile  as  a  one-pound  explosive  shell  at  the  rate  of  300  a  minute  are 
in  use.  The  English  Maxim-Nordenfeldt,  which,  during  the  Boer 
War,  got  the  name  of*  the  "pom-pom"  from  the  peculiar  drumming 


80 


MILITARY    IMPLEMENTS    OF    WAR 


sound  it  emits  in  action,  is  a  one-pounder  automatic.  Semi-automatic 
guns  are  used  extensively  in  the  naval  service.  In  weapons  of  this 
type  the  recoil  of  the  gun  ejects  the  empty  shell  and  throws  the  breech 
block  into  position  to  receive  a  new  shell  inserted  by  hand.  Guns  as 
large  as  the  three-inch  thirteen-pounder  are  operated  in  this  way. 
Machine  guns  are  mounted  on  carriages,  tripods,  parapets  of  forts 
and  rails  of  warships.  They  are  light  and  portable,  the  Maxim  weigh- 
ing only  about  thirty-five  pounds.  The  tripod  is  the  usual  mounting. 
The  French  have  recently  adopted  a  machine  gun  which  is  hardly 
larger  than  a  rifle  and  can  be  fired  in  the  same  way,  by  a  man  lying 
down,  at  the  rate  of  500  shots  a  minute. 


French  Siege-gun  on  Truck  of  Armored  Train 


Under  favorable  conditions  the  machine  gun  is  capable  of  inflict- 
ing frightful  damage;  but  like  a  great  many  other  modern  war  de- 
vices it  has  an  awful  capacity  for  wasting  costly  ammunition.  On 
account  of  their  excessive  vibration  and  "jump,"  they  are  very  diffi- 
cult to  aim  and  control  and  they  have  a  bad  habit  of  "jamming"  at 
critical  moments.  The  Maxim  gun  is  used  by  the  Russians  and  Ger- 
mans as  well  as  by  the  English.  France  and  Japan  use  the  Hotch- 
kiss,  a  gas-operated  radiator-cooled  weapon.  Austria  uses  the 
Schwarzlose,  a  remarkably  fine  weapon,  water-cooled,  and  operated  by 
the  powder-gas.  Italy  has  adopted  the  Permio,  which  operates  on  the 
recoil  principle.  The  American  Colt  is  operated  by  gas  and  relies  for 
cooling  on  its  very  thick  barrel. 

Artillery  Guns. — The  most  important  large  weapon  used  by  mod- 
ern armies  in  the  field  is  the  piece  with  which  the  field  artillery  is 
armed.     Usually  there  are  four  or  six  of  these  guns  to  each  battery, 


FIELD    GUNS 


81 


as  the  tactical  unit  of  field  artillery  is  termed.  While  they  diifer  in 
detail  in  each  army,  the  typical  field  piece  of  to-day  has  a  caliber  of 
about  three  inches  and  fires  a  shell  weighing  from  twelve  to  fifteen 
pounds,  at  a  velocity  of  about  2,000  feet  a  second,  to  a  distance  of 
about  7,500  yards.  They  have  hydraulic  and  spring  cylinders  for 
checking  recoil.  A  shield  of  hardened  steel,  placed  between  the 
wheels  of  the  gun-carriage,  protects  the  crew.  French  ordnance  of- 
ficers have  secretly  developed  their  field  artillery  to  an  extraordinary 
pitch  of  perfection  and,  if  the  predictions  of  some  authorities  are 


1 

w9IK^^^^^^^^^^^^^Bt              ^luE^ 

PPI^  ^'^    ..^ 

cjMH 

■  ■  ■  1 

1 

HnPlflHHH/                         .rtttctpt^^nWMW 

„.,  , 

■■-'  ^■.■■'    '■  ■                      .        .     .        .  : : 

English  60-pounder  Siege  Guns 


borne  out,  the  French  artillery  may  prove  a  decisive  factor  in  this  war. 
Field  batteries  are  also  equipped  with  breech-loading  mortars,  which 
are  short  pieces  intended  for  vertical  firing  against  troops  under  cover 
from  direct  fire.  Intermediate  in  length  between  the  regular  field 
guns  and  the  short  mortars  are  howitzers,  which  are  used  to  fire  shells 
at  a  high  angle  of  elevation,  with  a  small  muzzle  velocity.  They  vary 
in  size  from  the  small  field  howitzer  to  the  great  siege  pieces  16  inches 
in  caliber.  Their  shells  carry  heavy  explosive  charges,  and  are  terribly 
eifective  in  plunging  down  upon  intrenchments  and  fortifications. 

Horse  artillery,  which  is  expected  to  keep  pace  with  cavalry,  is 
equipped  with  lighter  pieces  than  the  field  artillery,  which  operate 
usually  in  cooperation  with  infantry.  In  siege  operations  against 
strongly  fortified  places,  special  heavy  guns  have  to  be  brought  up 


82 


MILITARY    IMPLEMENTS    OF    WAR 


K^^^^yMH 

^vrK_ 

l«l 

^5SE 

H 

?r™«"" 

iff| 

fliiHTJi'i'^iiir 

^^gPP^^^^^K^ai 

H 

'""-—"' ^" 

^ 

■%     ^. 

...  ■ 

' 

English  Artillerymen  with   Field-gun  on 
Pontoons 


German    12-in.    Mortar,   for    Use   Against 
Fortifications 


from  the  siege  train,  as  the  heavy  guns  and  their  equipment,  carried 
by  every  army  in  the  field,  are  called. 

These  field  pieces  are  all  breech-loading  rifles.  The  principal  pro- 
jectiles with  which  they  are  served  are  of  two  kinds — common  shell 
and  shrapnel.  Common  shells  contain  a  heavy  bursting-charge  of 
some  high  explosive,  such  as  lyddite  or  maximite.  Shrapnel  shells  are 
filled  with  bullets.  They  contain  a  light  charge  of  powder,  just  suffi- 
cient to  burst  the  shell,  allowing  the  bullets  to  spread  out  and  continue 
their  course.  Shrapnel  is  directed  against  troops;  common  shell  is 
used  both  against  troops  in  close  order  and  for  destroying  guns  and 
other  large  objects.  Shrapnel  is  particularly  effective  against  troops 
behind  earthworks  and  intrenclunents. 

Shells  are  exploded  by  fuses,  which  are  designed  so  that  an  ex- 
ploding charge  will  be  fired  either  immediately  on  impact,  delaj^ed  for 
a  desired  number  of  seconds  after  striking,  or  at  any  time  in  the  flight 
of  the  missile.  These  fuses  are  screwed  into  the  noses  of  the  shells 
used  by  field  pieces.  They  are  ingenious  and  rather  complicated  de- 
vices. The  safest  fuse  is  one  in  which  the  mechanism  of  discharge 
cannot  work  until  armed  by  the  rotary  motion  of  the  shell  leaving  the 
gun.  The  shells  of  field  pieces  and  of  all  large  guns  are  made  to 
engage  the  grooves  of  the  rifled  barrels  of  the  guns  by  means  of  a 


HAND    GRENADES  83 

band  of  copper  at  the  base,  which  is  driven  into  and  fills  up  the 
grooves  as  the  shell  leaves  the  chamber.  It  thus  receives  the  same 
rotary  motion  as  the  rifle  bullet. 

At  close  quarters,  artillery  use  case  shot,  which  is  merely  a  cylin- 
drical box  of  bullets,  made  so  as  to  break  up  immediately  on  leaving 
the  muzzle  of  the  gun,  scattering  the  bullets  across  a  wide  front. 
Star  shells  are  sometimes  used  at  night  to  illuminate  the  enemy's  posi- 

c 
r-ROTATING  BAND  5. 


-GRAPHITE  AND  TALLOW 


ROTATING  BAND  p 


Common  Shell 

BOURRELET 


POINT  OF  CAP 


BODY  OF  SHELL 


Armor-piercing  Shell 
Diagram  Showing  Structure  of  Common   Shell,  Shrapnel   and  Armor-piercing   Shell 


tion.  These  shells  will  burn  with  a  brilliant  light  for  about  forty 
seconds. 

The  introduction  of  aircraft  into  warfare,  a  novel  feature  of  the 
present  conflict  in  Europe,  has  brought  entirely  new  types  of  guns 
into  prominence,  both  for  ofl'ensive  use  by  such  craft  and  for  defense 
against  them.  Aeroplanes  and  air-ships  have  been  fitted  with  light 
weapons  for  use  in  air-fighting,  and  special  types  of  carriages  per- 
mitting vertical  and  high-angle  fire  have  been  devised  for  guns  de- 
signed to  bring  down  the  enemy's  aircraft.  The  automobile  has  been 
pressed  into  service  as  a  means  of  transport  for  such  weapons. 

Hand  Grenades. — Though  the  reader  may  start  when  he  sees  hand 
grenades  mentioned  in  an  article  on  modern  implements  of  war,  it  is  a 
fact  that  these  antiquated  instruments  were  revived  during  the  Russo- 
Japanese  War  and  with  such  eff*ect  that  considerable  attention  has 
been  devoted  to  perfecting  them.     A  grenade  is  a  bomb  thrown  by 


84 


MILITARY    IMPLEMENTS    OF    WAR 


hand.  They  are  effective  at  close  range,  particularly  in  storming 
forts  and  intrenchments.  There  are  also  devices  for  throwing  gren- 
ades from  small  guns.  A  mine  grenade  has  been  invented  recently. 
These  are  buried  in  the  groimd  over  which  troops  are  expected  to  pass,, 
and  are  fired  at  the  right  moment.  The  grenades  rise  a  short  dis- 
tance from  the  surface — being  prevented  from  soaring  into  the  air 
by  small  chains — then  burst  and  shoot  out  a  mass  of  projectiles  par- 
allel to  the  ground  in  all  directions. 


' 

)t0 

French  Siege-gun    with   Motor  Tractor 


Automobiles. — France  has  led  in  the  adaptation  of  the  motor-car 
to  military  purposes.  Some  time  ago  armored  automobiles  carrying 
machine  and  other  light  guns  were  built ;  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  the 
automobile  will  figure  much  in  this  capacity.  Its  field  will  be  mainly 
that  of  transport.  Powerful  motor-cars  have  been  built  for  hauling 
heavy  guns  and  trains  of  wagons.  These  cars  are  equipped  with  cap- 
stans for  drawing  themselves  out  of  holes  and  for  pulling  their  trail- 
ers up  steep  inclines.  They  have  endured  severe  tests  over  rough 
country.  The  public  imagination  has  been  touched  by  the  news  that 
the  French  commander-in-chief  uses  a  swift  automobile,  driven  by  a 
famous  racing-driver,  as  a  means  of  rapid  transport  on  the  long  line 
over  which  troops  extend  in  modern  warfare.  The  French  have  also 
recently  introduced  an  automobile  that  is  fitted  as  an  X-ray  operating- 
room,  the  motor  being  used  to  drive  the  dynamo  of  the  photographic 


MOTOR    VEHICLES 


85 


apparatus  after  the  car  has  taken  up  its  station.  Automobiles  have 
been  fitted  up  as  sleeping-cars  and  movable  kitchens  for  officers 
of  high  rank.  Special  motor  vans  for  the  transport  of  wireless  equip- 
ment, aeroplanes  and  gas-tanks  for  replenishing  and  filling  dirigi- 
bles, have  been  constructed.  In  a  country  intersected  by  a  network 
of  good  roads,  as  Europe  is,  the  automobile  may  obviously  be  put  to 


German    Field    Piece  with    Interlocking   Wheels 

a  variety  of  uses.     Bicycles  are  used  in  modern  armies  mainly  by 
despatch-bearers  and  members  of  the  signal  corps. 

The  Spade. — The  subject  of  military  implements  cannot  be  closed 
without  a  reference  to  the  humble  spade  and  shovel.  Intrenchment 
plays  a  very  important  part  in  field  operations  and  gives  the  spade  a 
high  rank  as  an  implement  of  war.  Ingenious  light  combination 
tools,  which  can  be  used  either  as  a  pick  or  a  shovel,  are  carried  bj'' 
European  infantryman.  Canadian  infantry  carry  a  spade,  the  blade 
of  which  has  a  hole  through  which  the  rifle  barrel  can  be  passed.  A 
hinged  handle  makes  it  possible  for  a  rifleman  lying  prone  to  utilize 
this  spade  as  a  very  efl'ective  head  shield.  In  an  emergency  the  foot- 
soldier  resorts  to  his  bayonet  as  a  spade  and  throws  up  as  large  a 
heap  of  earth  as  he  can,  for  protection  against  the  enemy's  fire. 


86 


CHAPTER  VI 

WAR-SHIPS  AND  NAVAL  IMPLEMENTS  OF  WAR 

The  popular  imagination  is  more  deeply  stirred  by  naval  than  by 
land  operations,  not  only  because  of  the  ever  fresh  romance  of  the  sea 
but  because  modern  weapons  of  war  have  been  carried  to  their  ex- 
treme pitch  of  perfection,  both  of  precision  and  of  power,  in  marine 
construction,  and  also  because  of  the  awful  concentration  of  destruc- 
tive forces  which  a  great  sea-fight  under  present  conditions  will  entail. 

Battle-ships. — The  most  terrible  engine  of  destruction  that  human 
ingenuity  has  been  able  to  devise  is  the  modern  battle-ship.  "Battle- 
ship" is  a  technical  term  applied  to  war-ships  of  the  heaviest  class, 
strongly  protected  by  thick  plates  of  the  hardest  and  toughest  steel 
that  science  has  been  able  to  produce,  and  armed  with  large  guns  of 
extreme  range,  throwing  a  gigantic  shell  of  high  penetrating  power 
bearing  a  charge  of  appalling  explosive  force.  For  many  years  a 
bitter  fight  has  been  in  progress  between  the  gun-makers  and  the  mak- 
ers of  armor-plate.  Many  times  the  armor-plate  makers  have  thought 
they  had  at  last  produced  a  plate  that  would  withstand  the  shock  of 
any  projectile,  only  to  face  a  new  gun  of  still  greater  penetrating 
power.  The  victory  rests  to-day  w^ith  the  gun-maker,  for  guns  of  the 
latest  naval  type  can  punch  a  clean  hole  through  eighteen  inches  of 
the  finest  armor. 

The  advent  of  the  English  "Dreadnought"  in  1905  brought  about 
a  revolution  in  the  construction  of  battle-ships.  Previously,  battle- 
ships had  carried  a  main  battery  of  four  heavy  guns  in  turrets  fore 
and  aft,  and  rows  of  lighter  guns  along  each  side.  The  American 
"Connecticut,"  of  16,000  tons,  armed  with  four  twelve-inch,  eight 
eight-inch  and  twelve  seven-inch  guns,  is  a  fine  example  of  the  earlier 
type.  The  "Dreadnought"  ushered  in  the  all-big-gun  ship,  carrying 
all  heavy  guns  of  uniform  size  in  turrets  on  the  deck,  and  a  secondary 
armament  of  light  guns  for  repelling  torpedo  craft.  The  dread- 
noughts are  supposed  to  be  so  far  superior  to  vessels  of  the  older  type 

87 


88 


WAR-SHIPS    AND    NAVAL    IMPLEMENTS 


( "pre-dreadnoughts,"  as  they  are  termed)  as  to  render  them  obsolete 
for  use  in  the  first  line  of  battle.  The  present  war  may  put  to  the 
test  this  famous  controversy  as  well  as  many  others  that  have  raged  in 
naval  circles.  The  small  battle-ship,  \/ith  few  guns,  has  always  had 
its  advocates. 

In  spite  of  hostile  criticism,  however,  all  the  naval  powers  have 
been  active  in  the  construction  of  monster  battle-ships,  until  we  now 


Battle-ship  "Neptune" — King  George,  Admiral  Callaghan  and  the  Prince  of  Wales  on  Decl< 


have  a  new  class  of  "superdreadnoughts."  England,  in  fact,  has 
outdone  the  superdreadnought  and  with  her  "Queen  Elizabeth"  and 
her  four  sister-ships  (some  of  which  maj^  be  completed  in  time  to  fig- 
ure in  this  war,  as  the}?-  are  due  for  completion  in  October,  1914,  and 
early  in  1915),  she  has  begun  a  new  era  in  battle-ship  construction. 
The  "Queen  Elizabeth"  is  650  feet  long  and  will  displace  27,500  tons. 
(The  "displacement"  of  a  ship  is  its  dead  weight,  so  called  because  a 
floating  body  displaces  a  volume  of  water  equal  to  its  own  weight. 
It  must  not  be  confused  with  the  "tonnage"  of  a  merchant  ship  which 
is  an  entirely  different  measurement.)     She  will  be  protected  by  a  belt 


DREADNOUGHTS 


89 


of  13%-inch  armor  on  her  water  line  and  10  inches  on  her  middle  belt. 
Her  guns  will  be  protected  by  14-inch  turrets.  As  with  all  battle- 
ships, parts  of  her  bow  and  stern  are  unarmored,  since  it  is  not  pos- 
sible for  a  ship  to  carry  the  weight  of  a  complete  suit  of  armor.  She 
has  the  extreme  speed  of  25  knots.  (The  English  Admiralty  knot  is 
6,080  feet,  or  about  1%  miles.  A  speed  of  25  knots  means  about  29 
land  miles  an  hour.)  Her  eight  15-inch  guns  give  her  the  most  power- 
ful armament  ever  mounted  on  a  warship.    She  will  carry  an  auxiliary 


German    Battle-Cruiser  "Moltke' 


battery  of  16  6-inch  guns  and — a  significant  sign  of  the  times — 12 
3-inch  anti-aeroplane  guns.  Five  21-inch  torpedo-tubes  complete  her 
armament.  Her  58,000-horse-power  turbine  engines,  driving  four 
screws,  will  be  supplied  with  steam  by  oil-burning  boilers.  Such  is  the 
"last  word"  in  naval  construction  at  the  time  of  the  present  European 
struggle.    She  will  cost  about  $13,000,000. 

Battle-ship  Cruisers — A  recent  development  in  naval  construction 
is  the  battle-ship  cruiser,  or  battle-cruiser,  in  which  armor  is  sacri- 
ficed to  speed.  These  ships  are  classed  as  dreadnoughts  and  are 
almost  as  heavily  armed  as  battle-ships  of  that  class.  The  English 
"Tiger"  represents  the  extreme  development  of  this  extraordinary 
class  of  ships.     She  has  the  enormous  displacement  of  29,000  tons, 


90 


WAR-SHIPS    AND    NAVAL    IMPLEMENTS 


Plates  Showing  Disposition  of  Heavy  Guns  and  Turrets  in   Recent  All- Big-Gun 
Battle-ships    and    Battle    Cruisers 

(Note. — A  black  dot  In  the  center  of  a  turret  indicates  that  the  guns  of  that  turret  are  suflBclently  elevated  to  fire  over  the 
adjacent  turret.) 

I.  Nevada.  Oklahoma  (U.  S.),  14-lnch  guns.  2.  Michigan.  South  Carolina  (U.  S.),  12-ln.  3.  Lion.  Princess  Royal,  Queen  Mary 
(British),  13.5-ln.  4.  Inflexible.  Invincible.  Indomitable.  Indefatigable.  Australia.  New  Zealand  (British),  12-ln.  5.  Espana.  Alfonso 
XIII..  Jaime  I.  (Spanish),  12-in.;  Vonder  Tann  (German).  11-in.  6.  GangiU.  PoUava.  Petropavlocsk.  Sevastopol  (Russian);  Viribus 
Unitis.  "  V."  (Austrian) ;  Darue  Allghlerl  (Italian) :  all  12-in.  Plan  4  with  triple-gun  turrets  has  been  suggested  for  Russian  ships. 
7.  Delauiare.  North  Dakota.  Florida.  Utah  (U.  S.),  12-ln.  8.  Texas.  New  York  (U.  S.),  14-in.;  Orion.  Thunderer.  Conqueror.  Monarch, 
King  George  V.,  CerUurlon.  Aiax.  Audacious  (British),  13.5-ln.  9.  Plan  suggested  by  Mr.  J.  McKechnie  (Viclcers  Co.)  for  16.000- 
ton  ship  with  internal-combustion  engines.  10.  Neptune,  Hercules,  Colossus  (British),  12-ln.  11.  Dreadnought.  Bellerophon, 
Temeraire.  Superb,  St.  Vincent,  CoUlngtcood,  Vanguard  (British),  12-in.  12.  Conte  di  Cavour,  Leonardo  da  Vlncl,  Giulio  Cesare 
(Italian),  12-ln.  13.  Wyoming,  Arkansas  (U.  S.),  12-ln.  14.  Moreno.  Rivadavia  (Argentine);  Mlnas  Geraes,  San  Paulo  (Brazilian), 
12-ln.  15.  Courbet,  Jean  Bart,  France.  Paris  (FVench),  12-ln.  16.  Kawachl,  Settsu  (Japanese),  12-ln.;  Nassau,  Westfalen,  Rheinland, 
Posen  (German),  Il-in.;  Ostfriesland,  Helgoland,  Thuringen,  Oldenburg  (German),  12.2-ln. 

although  she  carries  an  armor  belt  of  only  nine  inches.  Her  main 
armament  consists  of  eight  13.5-inch  guns.  She  has  engines  of 
78,000  horse-power,  giving  her  a  speed  of  28  knots.  The  "Lion,"  a 
somewhat  smaller  ship,  has  made  30  knots.  The  German  "Goeben," 
whose  elusive  qualities  were  so  frequently  referred  to  in  the  early 
news  of  this  war,  is  a  battle-ship  cruiser.    All  recent  battle-ships  have 


CRUISERS 


91 


an  armored  upper  deck  and  armored  gratings  over  the  funnels  for 
protection  against  aeroplanes. 

Cruisers. — Cruisers  are  light-armed  swift  vessels,  used  mainly  for 
scouting,  patrolling,  and  convoying  merchant  vessels.  The  great 
speed  of  the  new  battle-ships  and  battle-ship  cruisers  has  relegated 
cruisers  of  the  old  type  to  a  secondary  place.  Cruisers  are  classed  as 
"unprotected  cruisers,"  which  are  without  armor  of  any  kind  except 
around  their  guns;  "protected  cruisers,"  which  have  no  vertical  armor 


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—  --'  ''^'*-^ 

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German   Protected   Cruiser  "Breslau"   in  the    Kiei   Canal 

but  are  protected  by  an  armored  deck  over  their  machinerj^  curving 
at  each  side  below  the  water-line;  and  "armored  cruisers,"  which  have 
light  side  armor  and  are  in  effect  light  battle-ships. 

Destroyers. — Torpedo-destroyers,  usually  shortened  to  "destroy- 
ers," is  the  name  applied  to  a  class  of  exceedingly  swift  small  vessels. 
They  were  originally  designed  to  cope  with  torpedo-boats,  vessels  of  a 
smaller  and  slower  class,  but  have  become  the  highest  type  of  torpedo- 
boats  themselves.  They  carry  light  guns,  but  their  main  weapon  is  the 
deadly  torpedo.  These  vessels  are  large  enough  to  maintain  them- 
selves at  sea  for  long  periods,  and  in  speed  they  exceed  all  other  sea- 
going craft.     Slipping  stealthily  over  the  water,  they  suggest  some 


92 


WAR-SHIPS    AND    NAVAL    IMPLEMENTS 


British   Destroyer  "Nubian" — the   Fastest  Ship  in  the  World 


beast  of  prey,  and  their  swift  night  attacks  are  greatly  dreaded  by 
large  ships.  The  English  "Swift"  maj'  be  taken  as  the  extreme  type 
of  destroyer.  She  is  345  feet  long  and  displaces  1,800  tons.  With 
engines  of  30,000  horse-power,  which  is  a  good  deal  more  powerful 
than  the  engines  of  most  Atlantic  liners,  this  terrible  little  vessel  can 
maintain  a  speed  higher  than  35  knots,  or  more  than  40  miles  an 
horn-,  and  faster  than  most  express  trains.  She  is  armed  with  fom* 
4-inch  guns  and  two  deck  torpedo-tubes. 

Submarines. — A  new  and  peculiarly  sinister  type  of  craft,  the  sub- 
marine, is  to  receive  its  first  test  in  this  war.  Although  really  practi- 
cal vessels  of  this  type  have  been  in  use  only  about  twenty-five  years, 
they  have  been  so  far  perfected  that  Admiral  Sir  Percy  Scott  asserts 
that  they  have  already  sounded  the  death-knell  of  the  battle-ship.  This 
assertion  has  been  sharply  contested;  but  the  recent  astounding  feat 
of  a  German  submarine,  or  submarines,  in  sending  to  the  bottom  three 
British  armored  ci-uisers  within  a  few  minutes  seems  to  vindicate  the 
prophecy  of  the  English  admiral.     Nevertheless,  the  earlier  exploit 


SUBMARINES  93 

of  a  British  cruiser  in  destroying  a  German  submarine,  the  where- 
abouts of  which  was  disclosed  by  the  appearance  of  its  periscope  above 
the  surface,  with  two  shots,  shows  that  the  operations  of  this  class  of 
boats  are  attended  with  grave  peril.  Submarines  are  made  to  dive 
by  pumping  water  into  ballast  tanks,  in  co-operation  with  the  action 
of  horizontal  rudders,  and  they  are  operated  by  gasoline  engines 
when  running  on  the  surface.  Before  diving,  the  gasoline  engine  is 
cut  off,  and  all  surface  openings  are  closed  by  valves.     An  electric 


British   Submarine   Running  Awash 

motor,  driven  by  a  current  stored  up  in  accumulators  while  the  craft 
has  been  running  awash,  is  then  thrown  into  operation.  It  would  be 
unsafe  to  use  gasoline  engines  below  the  surface  because  of  escaping 
gas,  and  the  telltale  trail  of  bubbles  that  the  exhaust  would  throw  up 
to  the  surface.  Air  for  respiration  and  for  operating  the  torpedo- 
tube  at  the  bow  is  stored  up  under  high  pressure  in  suitable  tanks. 
Chemicals  for  purifying  the  air  are  carried.  White  mice,  which 
squeak  when  they  smell  escaping  gases,  are  regular  members  of  the 
submarine's  crew.     The  weapon  of  the  submarine  is  the  torpedo. 

Under  favorable  conditions,  the  destructive  capacity  of  the  sub- 
marine is  enormous ;  but  these  vessels  labor  under  many  serious  disad- 


94 


WAR-SHIPS    AND    NAVAL    IMPLEMENTS 


vantages.  Fatal  accidents  among  them  have  been  very  frequent  in  all 
navies.  They  are  exceedingly  uncomfortable  to  the  crew  at  all  times, 
and  for  obvious  reasons  they  are  habitable  only  for  a  short  time  when 
submerged.  The  maintenance  of  balance  is  a  difficult  problem,  and 
even  though  a  submarine  approaches  close  enough  to  a  battle-ship  to 
discharge  a  torpedo,  she  may  not  be  able  to  direct  it  properly. 
When  the  vessel  is  below  the  surface,  objects  can  be  seen  only  a  few 
feet  away ;  and  even  when  the  submarine  is  near  the  surface  a  battle- 
ship could  not  be  seen  at  a  distance 
of  more  than  one  hundred  feet. 
The  faster  the  boat  is  moving  the 
more  obscure  becomes  the  sur- 
rounding water.  The  submarine, 
being  practically  blind,  therefore, 
has  been  fitted  with  eyes  in  the 
form  of  "periscopes."  The  peri- 
scope is  a  mirror  fitted  at  an  angle 
in  the  top  of  a  tubular  mast  and  ca- 
pable of  being  revolved  horizontal- 
ly to  sweep  the  horizon.  The  im- 
age of  objects  on  the  surface  is  re- 
flected down  this  tube  to  a  properly 
placed  mirror  below,  so  that  the 
commander  of  the  craft,  by  looking 
into  the  mirror  before  him,  can  see 
what  is  going  on  above  the  surface 
of  the  water  so  long  as  the  periscope-box  remains  unsubmerged.  Un- 
fortunately for  the  submarine,  however,  this  periscope  is  a  certain  tell- 
tale of  its  whereabouts,  and  it  was  by  a  shot  through  its  periscope  that 
the  British  cruiser  previously  mentioned  blinded  the  German  subma- 
rine and  brought  it  to  the  surface,  when  a  second  shot  sent  it  to  the 
bottom.  At  night,  the  handicaps  of  the  submarine  are  obviously 
greatly  increased.  Despite  its  drawbacks,  however,  the  submarine  is 
a  fiendish  contrivance,  and  though  it  may  not  do  all  that  its  champions 
expect  of  it,  it  has  been  brought  to  a  high  degree  of  perfection  and 
it  has  already  given  a  sufficiently  horrible  account  of  itself.  Eng- 
land has  nearing  completion  the  largest  submarine  in  the  world,  the 


The   Eyes  of  the  Submarine 


SUBMARINES 


95 


British  Cruiser  Squadron — H.    IVI.   S.   "Lion"   Leading 


"JSTautilus."  The  extraordinary  features  of  this  craft  are  her  size 
(1,500  tons)  and  her  high  speed  on  the  surface  (21  knots),  enabling 
her  to  keep  pace  with  the  main  fleet  on  the  high  seas.  She  will  have  a 
submerged  speed  of  about  16  knots  and  will  be  armed  with  six 
torpedo-tubes.  Most  of  the  submarines  now  in  service,  however,  are 
of  an  earlier,  smaller,  and  much  less  efficient  type  than  this  dreadful 
engine  of  war.  They  are  usually  from  150  to  200  tons,  and  are  from 
100  to  150  feet  in  length.  They  have  a  radius  (distance  that  can  be 
sailed  without  replenishing  the  stock  of  fuel)  of  about  1,000  miles  on 
the  surface  and  100  to  150  miles  under  water. 

Naval  Guns. — The  battle-ship  is  essentially  a  floating  platform  for 
a  battery  of  powerful  guns.  In  fact,  with  the  exception  of  a  very 
few  16-inch  American  coast-defense  guns,  the  heaviest  weapons  in 
existence  are  now  afloat.  We  cannot  here  go  into  the  disputes  that 
have  been  waged  over  the  respective  merits  of  the  big  guns  of  the 
various  nations,  and  it  would  be  tedious  to  describe  the  guns  of  each 
nation  in  detail.  In  general,  these  guns  are  all  very  much  alike,  and 
in  order  to  give  the  reader  an  idea  of  the  size  and  power  of  the  guns 
that  constitute  the  main  ofl'ensive  armament  of  the  modern  battle-ship 
we  may  take  the  English  13.5  inch  as  typical.  This  gun  weighs  76 
tons  and  is  45  calibers  (60.75  feet)  long.  It  will  throw  a  projectile 
weighing  1,400  pounds  a  distance  of  more  than  ten  miles  with  a  muz- 


96 


WAR-SHIPS    AND    NAVAL    IMPLEMENTS 


The  11-inch   Guns  of  the  German   Battle-Cruiser   "IVIoitke' 


zle  velocity  of  2,821  feet  a  second.  All  ships  of  the  dreadnought 
class  carry  as  their  main  battery  from  eight  to  twelve  guns  of  not  less 
than  12-inch  caliber,  usually  mounted  in  pairs  in  heavily  armored  re- 
volving turrets.  Several  nations  have  recently  mounted  three  guns  in 
a  turret,  and,  in  her  four  great  dreadnoughts  now  building,  France 
has  taken  the  bold  step  of  mounting  four  guns  in  a  turret,  believing 
the  advantages  of  concentrated  fire  and  simultaneous  handling  of 
the  whole  battery  to  be  worth  the  risk  of  exposing  all  four  to  destruc- 
tion by  one  well-placed  shot. 

The  largest  modern  gun  is  simply  a  rifle  on  a  large  scale,  embody- 
ing no  essential  principle  not  found  in  the  small  weapon.  Powerful 
and  swiftly  operating  machinery,  either  hydraulic  or  electric,  raises 
its  great  muzzle  in  the  air  and  swings  it  across  the  horizon  in  search  of 
its  prey.  Its  shell  is  raised  into  position  and  thrust  into  the  breech 
by  machinery,  as  a  projectile  w^eighing  three  quarters  of  a  ton  cannot 
be  manipulated  by  hand.  The  great  breech-block  swings  on  hinges 
and  is  locked  by  a  slight  turn  of  a  crank.  The  powder-charge,  weigh- 
ing about  300  pounds,  is  packed  in  silk  bags,  as  coarser  fabrics  may 
leave  unburned  fragments  and  explosions  may  ensue.  They  are  usual- 
ly fired  by  closing  an  electric  switch,  though  they  can  be  fired  by  a  per- 
cussion trigger.    The  cost  of  firing  each  charge  is  about  $600.    One 


NAVAL    GUNS 


9T 


round  can  be  fired  in  a  little  less  than  a  minute.  The  gun  itself  costs 
about  $50,000.  The  modern  heavy  gun  is  very  short-lived,  due  to  the 
erosive  effect  of  the  gases  of  smokeless  powders  and  the  terrifically 
high  velocity  of  the  shell.  Some  of  these  guns  have  a  life  of  only  one 
hundred  rounds;  but  recent  guns  in  which  the  velocity  has  been  re- 
duced can  deliver  as  many  as  250  shots  before  they  become  so  inaccu- 
rate as  to  necessitate  relining. 


A  6-in.  and  Two  13.5-in.  Guns  of  H,  M.  S.  "Iron  Duke" 


These  guns  fire  a  frightful  engine  of  destruction  called  the  armor- 
piercing  shell.  Reference  has  been  made  already  to  the  battle  between 
armor  and  gun  which,  for  the  present,  the  gun  has  won.  An  Ameri- 
can 14-inch  gun  will  pierce  16  inches  of  the  hardest  armor  made  at  a 
range  of  10,000  yards,  and  European  guns  of  similar  type  will  do  the 
same.  All  armor  is  now  made  by  the  Krupp  process,  which  face- 
hardens  a  steel  plate  to  an  extraordinary  degree.  "Harveyized"  steel, 
popularly  supposed  to  be  the  acme  of  steel  armor,  is  a  thing  of  the 
past.  A  projectile  hard  enough  to  pierce  a  plate  of  Krupp  armor — 
so  hard,  that  is  to  say,  that  it  will  cut  glass — will  shatter  itself  to 
pieces  like  glass  if  fired  in  the  form  of  an  ordinary  shell.  The  armor- 
piercing  shell  has  a  nose  or  cap  of  soft  steel  over  its  real  "business 


98 


WAR-SHIPS    AND    NAVAL    IMPLEMENTS 


end."  The  effect  of  the  impact  of  this  soft  nose  is  not  clearly  under- 
stood, but  probably  it  is  to  dent  and  strain  the  plate  so  that  the  sharp 
point  of  the  body  of  the  shell,  striking  an  instant  later,  is  able  to  bore 
its  way  through,  and  also,  and  perhaps  more  important,  to  protect  and 


Bow  of  a  British  Dreadnought  with  Launching  Platform  for  Aeroplanes 

support  the  boring  point.  But  the  shell  is  ,not  content  merely  with 
boring  a  hole  through  a  ship's  armor.  Inside  the  projectile  is  a  charge 
of  about  one  hundred  pounds  of  the  most  powerful  explosives  known, 
and  screwed  inside  the  base  of  the  shell  is  a  delayed-action  fuse  of  the 
type  already  described,  which  is  so  timed  that  it  will  detonate  the 


ARMOR   PLATE  99 


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German    Battle-ship   Squadron   in  Column 

charge  at  the  exact  instant  when  the  projectile  has  made  its  way 
through  the  armor  plate  into  the  ship,  and  then — there  is  no  more 
ship.  Such  is  what  would  undoubtedly  happen  were  a  shell  to  ex- 
plode within  a  war  vessel;  but  battles  are  not  fought  under  the  same 
conditions  that  prevail  at  gun  proving-grounds.  It  is  a  fact  that  at 
the  battle  of  Tsu-shima,  between  the  Japanese  and  the  Russians,  the 
main  armor  belt  of  not  a  single  ship  on  either  side  was  pierced,  even 
when  the  Japanese  closed  to  within  3,300  yards.  Hundreds  of  armor- 
piercing  shells,  carrying  their  frightful  charges,  of  course  struck,  but 
they  glanced  on  the  rolling  vessels  and  passed  harmlessly  on.  It  was 
the  hurricane  of  smaller  shot,  with  which  the  Japanese  swept  the  decks 
and  unarmored  parts  of  the  Russian  ships,  killing  and  demoralizing 
the  crews,  that  gained  the  victory. 

Operating  a  Large  Gun. — Large  naval  guns  are  pointed  by 
means  of  telescopic  sights.  A  small  telescope  of  low  magnifying 
power  is  set  on  a  part  of  the  carriage  unaffected  by  the  recoil  so  that  it 
moves  in  exact  unison  with  the  gun  both  laterally  and  vertically,  and 
is  so  constructed  that  it  can  be  depressed  the  exact  number  of  degrees 
necessary  to  elevate  the  muzzle  of  the  gun  for  the  desired  range. 
The  object-glass  is  scored  with  a  vertical  and  a  horizontal  hair-line. 
If  the  range  has  been  correctly  estimated,  and  exact  allowance  has 
been  made  for  various  disturbing  factors — such  as  the  wind,  speed  of 
vessels,  etc.— the  shot  will  strike  the  target  if  the  gun  is  fired  at  the 


100 


WAR-SHIPS    AND    NAVAL    IMPLEMENTS 


t~~"; — \ 


French    Battle-ships  of  the  Pre-dreadnought  Type 


exact  instant  the  image  of  the  target  crosses  the  hair-Hnes  on  the 
telescope.  Firing  may  be  done  in  two  ways:  the  sight  may  be  de- 
pressed to  the  proper  angle  and  by  means  of  the  powerful  and  flexible 
elevating  gear  m  ith  which  modern  guns  are  equipped  the  telescope 
may  be  kept  trained  exactly  upon  the  target  until  the  favorable  mo- 
ment for  shooting  arrives ;  or  the  gun  maj^  be  left  stationary  and  fired 
when  the  roll  of  the  ship  sweeps  the  image  of  the  target  across  the 
telescope  sight,  properly  depressed  for  range.  Naturally  the  pitch- 
ing and  rolling  of  the  vessel  make  accurate  shooting  very  difficult 
even  in  ordinary  weather,  and  quite  impossible  in  a  heavy  sea.  Indi- 
vidual gun-firing  has  given  place  in  modern  practice  to  methods  of 
firing  batteries  simultaneously.  This  method,  known  as  "director- 
firing,"  has  been  highly  perfected  by  Admiral  Sir  Percy  Scott,  and 
phenomenal  firing  records  of  various  British  ships  have  been  reported. 
Exact  methods  of  fire-control  are  secret  in  all  navies ;  but  in  "director- 
firing"  all  the  broadside  guns  of  the  ship  can  be  made  to  follow  the 
movements  of  one  master  gun.  When  the  range  has  been  found  and 
proved  by  this  gun,  the  others  can  be  fired  simultaneously.  The 
simultaneous  bursting  of  eight  or  ten  1,400-pound  shells  charged 


OPERATING    LARGE    GUNS 


lor 


with  half  a  ton  of  trinitrotoluol,  can  be  compared  only  to  the  sudden 
eruption  of  a  volcano. 

Range-finding. — Knowledge  of  the  exact  range  is  essential  to  ac- 
curate shooting.  Various  means  of  calculating  the  distance  of  an  in- 
accessible object  are  in  use,  all  depending  on  the  simple  geometrical 
principle  that  if  the  length  of  the  base  of  a  triangle  and  the  size  of 


§  "  RP.  ^  i,^* .«^,,  M '««  •/,'-     ^ 


Deck  of  the   German   Battle-Cruiser  "Goeben' 


the  two  angles  at  the  base  are  known,  the  distance  of  the  apex  from  the 
base  or  the  length  of  the  other  sides  can  readily  be  calculated.  In  land 
fortifications  it  is  easy  to  lay  off  a  long,  permanent  base  for  range- 
finding  ;  but  on  a  war-ship  this  is  obviously  out  of  the  question,  and  a 
very  ingenious  mechanical  device,  known  as  a  "range-finder,"  is  used. 
This  is  a  tube,  about  nine  feet  in  length,  mounted  horizontally.  It 
has  mirrors  at  each  end,  which  can  be  made  to  converge  by  adjusting- 
screws.    One  of  these  mirrors  reflects  only  the  top  half  of  the  object 


iCf2''*    ••"•'Wlll-SHIPS    AND    NAVAL    IMPLEMENTS 

on  which  it  is  directed,  and  the  other  reflects  the  lower  half.  When 
these  two  half -images  are  made  to  "match"  precisely,  the  mirrors  are 
reflecting  the  exact  angles  between  the  target  and  the  two  ends  of  the 
range-finder.  A  pointer  on  a  scale  shows  the  range  of  the  target  in 
yards.  ,  Range-finders  are  mounted  on  the  tops  of  the  military-masts. 
On  United  States  ships  the  mihtary  masts  are  in  the  shape  of  a  lat- 
ticed column.  European  ships  have  tripod  masts.  Fortunately,  the 
much-debated  question  of  the  value  of  the  American  type  of  mast  is 
not  likely  to  be  decided  in  this  war. 


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8-in,  Gun,  Showing  Telescope  Sight  and  Operating   Gear 


Torpedoes. — The  automobile  torpedo  is  a  cigar-shaped  metallic 
boat,  equipped  with  engines  driven  by  superheated  compressed  air, 
and  kept  true  to  its  course  by  lateral  and  horizontal  rudders.  It  car- 
ries in  its  nose  a  heavy  charge  of  some  high  explosive  (formerly  wet 
guncotton,  now  trinitrotoluol),  which  is  detonated  by  a  firing-pin 
when  the  torpedo  strikes.  Torpedo  boats  and  destroyers  launch  their 
torpedoes  from  swiveling  deck-tubes  by  means  of  compressed  air. 
Larger  ships  have  tubes  below  the  water  line  through  which  they  are 
launched.  A  sort  of  trigger  on  the  top  of  the  torpedo  is  caught  and 
thrown  back  as  it  leaves  the  tube,  and  this  starts  the  engines.  There- 
after, the  torpedo  is  to  all  intents  and  purposes  a  self-contained  sub- 
marine boat. 


AUTOMOBILE    TORPEDOES 


103 


The  devices  that  keep  the  torpedo  true  to  its  course  and  at 
a  proper  depth  are  of  great  ingenuity.  The  torpedo  can  be  set  so  that 
it  will  run  either  along  the  surface  of  the  water  or  at  any  desired 
depth,  down  to  about  twenty  feet.  The  steering-gear  that  keeps  it 
true  in  the  vertical  plane  is  based  on  the  principle  that  the  pressure  of 
water  increases  with  the  depth.  A  spring  is  set  to  the  known  pressure 
of  the  water  at  the  depth  at  which  it  is  desired  to  run  the  torpedo. 
Should  it  sink  below  that  depth,  the  increased  weight  of  the  water  will 
press  the  spring  back  and  thus  open  a  valve  that  operates  a  small 


Torpedo  Boat  Discharging  a   Torpedo 


steering-engine.  Should  the  torpedo  rise,  the  pressure  will  decrease 
and  the  spring  will  force  the  valve  in  the  opposite  direction,  thus  actu- 
ating a  corresponding  turn  of  the  rudder.  A  pendulum,  free  to  swing 
in  the  longitudinal  plane,  checks  sudden  upward  and  downward  move- 
ments and  over-application  of  rudder  pressure  by  striking  the  valve 
mechanism  when  brought  into  play. 

The  torpedo  is  kept  true  to  a  straight-ahead  course  by  a  gyroscopic 
device,  known  as  the  "Obry  gear."  The  gyroscope  tends  strongly 
to  revolve  always  in  the  same  plane.  If  the  torpedo  should  veer,  it 
would  throw  the  longitudinal  axis  of  the  torpedo  to  the  right  or  the 
left  of  the  plane  of  the  gyroscope,  thus  actuating  stern  rudders 


DEVELOPMENT    OF    THE    SUBMARINE 
This  Plate  Shows  the  Successive  Types  of  Submarines  Constructed  for  the  British  Navy 


104 


AUTOMOBILE    TORPEDOES 


105 


which  bring  it  back  to  its  proper  course.    In  time  of  war,  torpedoes 
are  set  to  sink  in  case  they  go  wide  of  their  mark. 

The  most  recent  types  of  torpedoes  are  of  long  range,  and  are 
astonishingly  accurate  in  their  flight.  The  best  known  type  is  the 
English  Whitehead.  The  German  Schwartzkopf  ("Blackhead") 
differs  very  slightly  from  the  Whitehead.    The  typical  torpedo  in  use 


[Slew  Type  of  Torpedo  Which   Fires  an  Armor-piercing  Shell.     The  Ordinary  Torpedo 

Explodes  on   Impact.     This  Type  Acts  as  a  Gun  the  Muzzle  of  Which   Is 

Brought  Directly  Against  the  Side  of  an   Enemy's  Ship 

to-day  is  from  15  to  17  feet  long  and  18  to  21  inches  in  diameter.  It 
has  a  range  of  about  8,000  yards,  though  England  reports  a  new  type 
with  a  10,000-yard  range.  Its  initial  speed  is  about  35  knots,  running 
down  to  about  26  knots  when  nearing  the  end  of  its  radius.  The  cost 
of  a  torpedo  is  between  four  and  five  thousand  dollars.  The  increase 
in  range  of  torpedoes  has  had  a  decisive  effect  on  tactics,  as  a  battle 
obviously  cannot  be  begun  within  the  zone  covered  by  the  torpedoes  of 
the  two  opposing  lines.  Battle-ships  are  protected  from  torpedoes 
while  at  anchor  by  steel  nets  hung  from  booms.  Torpedoes  are 
equipped  with  shears  for  the  purpose  of  making  their  way  through 
such  nets. 


GENERAL 


From  Nelson's  "War  Attas." 
A     FORT    AT     LlkoE 

These  Drawings  Show  the  External  Appearance  and  Internal  Structure  of  the  Cupola   Forts  of 

Liege,  Designed  by  General  Brialmont,  Which,  Under  the  Command  of  General  Leman, 

Offered  so  Determined  a  Resistance  to  the  German  Invaders  Until  They  Were 

Able  to  Bring  Their  Terrible  420  Millimeter  Guns  to  Bear 


106 


CHAPTER   VII 

COAST-DEFENSES   AND  FORTIFICATIONS 

Compared  with  battle-ships,  destroyers  and  automobile  torpedoes, 
fortifications  are  a  rather  prosaic  subject;  but  as  they  are  the  very 
backbone  of  a  nation's  defense  a  few  words  regarding  them  may  be  in- 
teresting. In  this  country  we  have  only  coast-defenses  to  consider ;  but 
continental  Europe  is  scored  with  chains  of  interior  fortifications  for 
the  protection  of  frontiers,  important  cities,  and  strategic  points.  The 
modern  inland  fort  is  small  and  very  unobtrusive.  Its  walls,  bomb- 
proof shelters,  redoubts,  and  gun  emplacements  are  all  concealed  be- 
hind mounds  and  grassy  slopes  so  that  it  merges  modestly  into  the 
landscape.  Its  guns  are  masked  as  much  as  possible,  and  a  cluster  of 
pretty  shrubs  may  conceal  a  battery  of  deadly  mortars. 

A  city  such  as  Liege,  which  was  so  valiantly  defended  against  the 
Germans  in  this  war,  is  protected  by  a  girdle  of  forts  at  a  distance 
of  five  or  six  miles  from  the  outskirts  of  the  town.  There  are 
usually  four  or  five  main  forts,  with  smaller  redoubts  between,  set  at 
such  intervals  that  their  fire-zones,  intersect.  In  advance  of  the  forts 
is  a  continuous  line  of  infantry  trenches,  and  in  favorable  spots  are 
lines  of  barbed-wire  entanglements,  usually  charged  with  electricity 
and  other  devices  for  obstructing  the  enemy,  such  as  pits  with  sharp 
stakes  at  the  bottom,  felled  trees  entangled  with  wire,  and  rows  of 
stout  sharpened  branches  pegged  into  the  ground.  Behind  the  en- 
tanglements are  mines,  or  "fougasses,"  that  can  be  fired  electrically 
from  the  forts.  Between  the  forts,  batteries  of  howitzers  are  placed 
in  positions  commanding  the  enemy's  approach.  A  light  railway,  for 
keeping  the  forts  provisioned  and  renewing  supplies,  running  through 
a  deep  trench,  connects  the  entire  chain  of  forts.  Until  the  enemy's 
attack  becomes  so  fierce  that  it  is  no  longer  possible  to  keep  the  field, 
the  defending  troops,  in  the  daytime,  take  up  their  positions  behind 
these  trenches  and  field  defenses  in  the  open  country  between  the 

107 


108 


COAST-DEFENSES    AND    FORTIFICATIONS 


forts,  retiring  to  the  shelter  of  the  fort  at  night,  or  in  foggy  weather. 
The  last  stage  of  the  siege  comes  when  the  surrounding  territory 
is  so  swept  by  the  enemy's  fire  that  the  defenders  are  compelled  to 
remain  in  the  forts. 

In  principle  these  forts  are  not  unlike  immovable  battle-ships. 
They  are  usually  triangular  and  their  main  protection — their  side- 
armor,  to  use  a  naval  term — lies  in  the  thick  embankment  of  sand  and 
earth  with  which  they  are  surrounded.  This  embankment — or  "glacis," 
as  its  face  is  called — slopes  gently  toward  the  front,  so  that  the  enemy's 


German   Officers  in  Artfully  Constructed  Shelter 

fire  from  the  base  will  clear  the  top.  Sand  is  very  obdurate  against 
gun-fire,  and  a  thick  bank  of  it  will  smother  the  most  powerful  shell. 
Behind  this  embankment — the  whole  of  which  is  often  called  the 
"counterscarp,"  though  that  term  is  properly  applied  only  to  the  sup- 
porting wall  at  the  back  of  it — is  a  deep  ditch,  surrounding  the  inner 
citadel.  Piercing  this  central  structure  from  end  to  end  is  a  long 
gallery,  through  which  access  to  the  fort  is  gained  from  the  outside 
by  a  small  tunnel-like  gateway.  From  this  central  gallery,  side  pas- 
sages lead  to  the  soldiers'  quarters,  magazines  and  store-rooms,  and 
to  the  stairways  leading  up  to  the  armored  cupolas  protecting  gun- 
batteries,  search-lights,  range-finders,  and  the  small  observation 
chamber  in  which  the  commanding  officer  takes  up  his  position.    The 


COAST    DEFENSES 


109 


inner  citadel  is  constructed  of  massive  concrete,  and  the  large  guns 
are  mounted  in  heavily  armored  revolving  disappearing  turrets. 

Famous  military  engineers  have  exhausted  every  resource  of  tech- 
nical science  in  making  the  modern  fort  theoretically  impregnable. 
They  are  seemingly  able  to  resist  the  heaviest  artillery  that  can  be 
brought  against  them,  and  capable  of  unloosing  an  appalling  hur- 
ricane of  shot  and  shell.  T^Tevertheless,  the  fate  of  Liege  and  Namur 
shows  that  it  is  possible  to  bring  to  bear  upon  them  a  fire  severe 
enough  to  crush  their  resistance,  and  the  new  German  420  millimeter 


English  Artillery   Bringing  Up  Heavy  Siege-guns 


(16%  in.)  siege  howitzers  seem  to  have  sealed  the  fate  of  the  inland 

fort.^ 

Coast  Defenses — The  heaviest  weapons  are  mounted  on  coast  for- 
tifications, though  few  exceed  in  power  the  guns  carried  by  the  new- 
est dreadnoughts.  The  14-inch  and  12-inch  guns,  which  diifer  only  in 
the  mounting  from  naval  guns  of  the  same  size,  already  described, 
constitute  the  main  armament  of  coast  forts.  The  average  12-inch 
gun  will  strike  a  blow  at  the  muzzle  of  about  45,000  foot-tons,  while 
a  14-inch  gun  has  a  striking  power  of  about  65,000  foot-tons,  a  foot- 
ton  being  the  energy  necessary  to  lift  a  ton  one  foot  high  in  a  second. 
As  the  largest  dreadnought  weighs  only  30,000  tons,  the  terrific 
power  of  these  guns  may  be  realized.     The  long  guns  are  supple- 


110 


COAST-DEFENSES    AND    FORTIFICATIONS 


mented  by  short  12-inch  and  smaller  mortars,  used  for  high-angle  fire 
designed  to  plunge  the  shells  downward  upon  the  decks  of  the  enemy's 
ships.    The  typical  12-inch  mortar  is  a  short,  squat  weapon,  about  16 


Rear  View  of  12-inch  Disappearing  Carriage.     Gun   in   Firing  Position 


feet  long.  It  will  fire  a  shell  weighing  half  a  ton  farther  than  a  14- 
inch  gun  will  carry,  at  the  rate  of  about  one  shot  a  minute.  It  is 
mounted  on  a  tilted  base,  so  that  the  muzzle  can  be  pointed  very  high 
and  throw  the  shells  miles  into  the  air.  They  are  set  in  groups  in  deep 
pits.  In  Europe  the  large  coast-defense  guns  are  usually  mounted  in 
armored  turrets,  as  on  a  battle-ship ;  or  in  steel  cupolas  which  rise  and 


RANGE    FINDING 


111 


sink  after  firing  into  concrete  cylindrical  chambers.  In  this  country, 
the  disappearing  carriage,  which  rears  the  gun  in  the  air  and  sinks  it 
back  out  of  sight  below  the  parapet  when  fired,  is  favored. 

Range-finding. — Finding  the  range  is  a  very  important  and  inter- 
esting procedure.  The  principle  of  range-finding  has  already  been  re- 
ferred to  in  the  discussion  of  naval  guns.  On  land,  two  well-protected 
observing  stations  are  selected  at  each  end  of  a  base  about  a  mile  long. 
When  an  enemy's  ship  comes  into  sight,  she  is  observed  simultaneously 
with  suitable  instruments  from  these  stations,  and  the  respective  an- 
gles which  the  hull  makes  with  the  base-line  are  telephoned  to  what  is 


German    UTticer-  Operating  a   Field    Range-finder 


called  the  "plotting-room"  within  the  fort.  Thirty  seconds  later  simi- 
lar observations  are  made,  and  from  these  two  the  ship's  position, 
speed,  and  direction  can  be  instantly  obtained.  But  the  exact  range 
alone  is  not  sufficient.  Corrections  must  be  made  for  wind-pressure, 
varying  tide-levels,  atmospheric  pressure,  variation  of  the  powder  en- 
ergy due  to  temperature,  and,  of  course,  the  ship's  speed  and  direction. 
All  these  corrections  are  made  within  a  twinkling  by  ingenious  me- 
chanical devices,  and  the  exact  angle  at  which  the  guns  are  to  be  ele- 
vated is  telephoned  to  the  officer  in  charge  of  the  batterj^  Another 
form  of  range-finder  has  a  vertical  base  provided  by  a  high  tower. 
This  system  has  the  advantage  of  being  purely  mechanical,  as  it  is  only 
necessary  to  train  the  telescope  of  the  instrument  upon  the  target  and 
read  off  the  range  in  yards  on  a  scale  below.  This  instrument  is  based 
on  the  same  principle  as  the  naval  range-finder  already  described. 


llg 


COAST-DEFENSES    AND    FORTIFICATIONS 


-V  Planting  Buoy 
WATER  LINE 


Usually  both  systems  are  used  in  combination,  and  should  the  enemy 
destroy  the  permanent  observation  stations,  the  naval  range-finder 
may  be  pressed  into  service.  In  the  last  extremity,  gunners  would  get 
the  range  by  comparison  with  fixed  objects  on  the  land,  buoys,  etc., 

the  range   of  which  had   already 
been  ascertained  and  recorded. 

Submarine  Mines. — Harbor  ap- 
proaches and  the  channels  in  the 
vicinity  of  fortified  naval  bases  are 
protected  by  fields   of  submarine 
mines.     So   ingeniously  are   these 
laid,  and  so  terrible  is  their  destruc- 
tive capacity,  that  it  seems  almost 
impossible  for  an  attacking  fleet 
ever  to  penetrate  the  zone  they  cov- 
er.   The  modern  submarine  mine  is 
of  three    forms:    (1)    Automatic, 
which  explodes  when  struck;    (2) 
Observation,  fired  electrically  from 
the  shore  when  the  ship  is  supposed 
to   be  sufficiently   close,   and    (3) 
Electrical  contact,  which  gives  a 
signal  when  struck,  and  is  prompt- 
ly exploded  by  a  watchful  operator. 
Submarine  mines  are  laid  in  several 
parallel  lines,  usually  in  groups  of 
three.      They    are    hollow    metal 
globes,  filled  with  a  sufficient  quan- 
tity  of  explosives 
to  destroj^  the  lar- 
gest  battle-s  h  i  p. 
They  are  anchored 
to  the  bottom  by 
cables    in    such    a 
to  othe7M  inw'         way  that  they  float 
about  ten  feet  be- 

of  Anchored  Submarine  Mine  loW    the     SUrfaCC. 


SUBMARINE    MINES 


113 


The  electrical  wires  by  which  they  are  operated  run  to  what  are 
known  as  "junction-boxes,"  controlHng  a  group,  and  thence  to  the 
shore  in  cables.  They  can  be  fired  either  singly,  or  in  groups  of 
three,  or  the  whole  field  can  be  exploded  at  once.  Or  they  can  be  set 
to  explode  on  contact.  In  order  to  clear  a  mine  field,  countermining 
operations  are  resorted  to,  either  by  sending  small  boats  into  the  field 
to  sow  it  with  new  mines  that  explode  the  old  ones  by  the  shock  of 
their  own  explosion,  or  by  dragging  with  cables,  fitted  with  grappling 
irons,  drawn  across  the  field  between  two  boats  of  light  draft.  In 
order  to  repel  countermining  operations,  batteries  of  rapid-fire  guns 
are  alwaj^s  placed  where  they  can  command  the  field.  The  German 
fleet  to-day  is  in  all  probability  at  anchor  behind  coast  defenses  and 
lines  of  submarine  mines  of  the  general  type  we  have  just  described. 
The  magnitude  of  the  task  confronting  the  English  fleet  which  de- 
sires to  bring  it  to  bay  may  therefore  be  imagined.  Contact  floating 
mines  are  set  in  the  open  sea  in  the  course  of  the  enemy's  ships.  These 
are  usually  launched  overboard  in  couples  from  a  mine-layer  connected 
by  cables,  so  that  when  a  ship's  bow  strikes  this  cable  it  swings  the  two 
mines  sharply  against  the  vessel's  side.  The  British  cruiser  "Am- 
phion"  was  destroyed  by  one  of  these  fiendish  contrivances  in  the  early 
days  of  the  war. 


British  Dreadnought  "Orion" 


**AIR  NAVIES'' 

OF  THE 

NATIONS 

Dirig-  Aero- 

Ibles  planes 

Germany  .     .  40  1,000 

Austria      .     .     8  400 

France.     .     .  22  1,400 

Great  Britain     9  400 

Russia  ...  18  800 

Belgium  '  .     .     2  100 

Servia  ...    0  60 

Italy     ...  30  119 


'HEARD  THE  HEAVENS  FILL  WITH  SHOUTING,  AND  THERE  RAINED  A  GHASTLY  DEW 
FROM  THE   NATIONS'  AIRY   NAVIES  GRAPPLING   IN   THE  CENTRAL   BLUE."— Tennyson. 

114 


CHAPTER  VIII 

AIRCRAFT   AND    WIRELESS   TELEGRAPHY    IN    WAR 

The  most  spectacular  feature  of  the  present  war,  and  the  one  on 
which  popular  interest  is  most  intensely  centered,  is  the  part  to  be 
played  by  aircraft.  The  development  of  the  flying-machine  from  an 
ancient  jest  to  a  decisive  factor  in  warfare  has  been  phenomenally 
rapid,  and  it  has  passed  from  conquest  to  conquest  with  astounding 
speed.  In  fact,  it  was  only  in  1912  that  aviation  was  officially  consti- 
tuted a  new  arm  of  the  service  by  all  the  great  Powers.  The  imagina- 
tion plays  readily  about  the  flying-machine  and  its  new  and  startling 
powers  of  destruction.  It  is  easy  to  picture  great  air-ships  speeding 
by  night  and  dropping  tons  of  explosives  upon  doomed  cities,  armies, 
fortifications,  and  ships  at  sea.*  Visions  of  flocks  of  aeroplanes,  firing 
machine-guns  and  shooting  clouds  of  explosive  darts,  may  readily  be 
conjured  up.  The  imaginative  talents  of  a  war-correspondent,  in 
search  of  material  denied  him  by  the  callous  censor,  may  delineate  for 
us  the  thrilling  scene  of  a  devoted  patriot  hurling  his  aeroplane  upon 
a  huge  air-ship  and  going  to  his  death  along  with  the  enemy's  craft 
and  aeronauts  in  a  blaze  of  flaming  hydrogen.  The  popular  fancy  is 
running  riot  with  pictures  of  this  kind;  but  whether  anything  of  the 
sort  will  really  happen  the  war  alone  must  determine.  Ofl'ensive  and 
defensive  warfare  keep  a  fairly  close  pace,  and  it  is  a  fact  that  rela- 
tively fewer  men  are  killed  in  modern  warfare  than  in  the  days  of 
battle-ax  and  cross-bow.  At  least,  such  has  been  the  case  in  recent 
wars;  and  whether  the  present  stl'uggle  will  show  the  same  tendency 
toward  killing  fewer  men  at  greater  cost  remains  to  be  seen.  The  kill- 
ing of  each  Boer  in  the  South  African  war  cost  the  English  $40,000 ; 
and  as  weapons  have  increased  greatly  in  capacity  and  are  correspond- 
ingly more  wasteful,  it  is  likely  to  cost  much  more  to-day.  Be  that  as 
it  may,  aircraft  are  a  new  and  exceedingly  important  factor  in  mod- 
ern warfare,  and  the  aeroplane  at  least  has  already  demonstrated  its 

115 


116 


AIRCRAFT    AND    WIRELESS 


enormous  value   for  reconnoitering,  and  in  consequence  has  pro- 
foundly modified  military  tactics. 


Zeppelin  Flying  Over  German  Fleet  in   Kiel   Harbor 


Aircraft,  as  is  well  known,  are  divided  into  two  distinct  classes — 
the  aeroplane,  or  heavier-than-air  machine;  and  the  air-ship,  or  diri- 
gible balloon,  which  is  maintained  in  the  air  by  the  buoyant  force  of 
hydrogen  gas. 


DIRIGIBLES  117 

Air-ships. — Air-ships,  or  dirigibles,  which  are  essentially  elongated 
balloons,  driven  by  propellers,  are  of  three  classes — rigid,  semi-rigid, 
and  non-rigid.    In  the  rigid  type,  the  gas-containing  body,  or  hull,  is 


Zeppelin  at  Rest  in  Its  Huge  "Air-dock" 

supported  by  a  solid  framework  either  of  aluminum  or  of  wood,  con- 
taining several  individual  gas-bags,  so  that  the  craft  will  still  remain 
in  the  air,  even  though  several  bags  are  torn.  The  cars  containing  the 
engines,  crew-compartments,  propellers,  etc.,  are  fitted  to  this  frame- 
work close  to  the  bottom  of  the  hull. 


118 


AIRCRAFT    AND    WIRELESS 


Car  of  the   Russian   Dirigible  "Russia" 


In  the  semi-rigid  type,  the  bottom  of  the  hull  is  strengthened  so  as 
to  form  a  support  for  the  car.  This  type  shows  a  tendency  to  disap- 
pear in  favor  of  the  non-rigid,  which  has  a  flexible  bodj^  without  solid 
supports  and  capable  of  quick  deflation  for  transport  or  when  threat- 
ened with  sudden  danger.  The  Zeppelin,  in  which  the  framework  is 
of  aluminum;  the  Schiitte-Lanz,  and  the  French  Spiess,  with  wooden 
frames,  are  of  the  rigid  type.  The  Gross  and  the  Veeh  are  semi-rigid. 
The  Parseval  and  the  French  Astra-Torres  are  non-rigid.  The  rigid 
type,  while  stronger  and  more  efficient  in  many  ways  than  the  flexible 
type,  which  has  nothing  to  support  its  gas-envelope  but  the  fabric  of 
which  it  is  made,  and  internal  ropes  and  bands  from  which  the  car  is 
hung,  has  the  disadvantage  of  a  forced  dependence  upon  huge  fixed 
sheds  for  cover,  and  is  exposed  to  the  peril  of  destruction  if  forced  to 
land  in  a  high  wind  at  a  distance  from  its  shed.  A  whole'  battalion  of 
men  is  required  to  maneuver  it  into  its  shed.  Although  the  early 
career  of  the  Zeppelin  was  marked  by  a  series  of  heart-breaking  disas- 
ters, it  has  redeemed  itself  recently  and  is  to-day  unquestionably  a 


DIRIGIBLES 


119 


war-engine  of  formidable  possibilities.  The  latest  German  Zeppelins 
have  a  gas  capacity  of  28,000  cubic  meters  (989,000  cubic  feet),  a 
lifting  capacity  of  about  50  tons,  and  an  average  speed  of  60  miles  an 
hour.  Their  range  is  not  known  exactly,  but  it  is  probably  not  much 
short  of  1,000  miles,  and  may  be  even  greater. 


British    Dirigible — Astra-Torres   Type 


In  her  new  mammoth  Astra-Torres,  France  has  a  dirigible,  of  the 
non-rigid  type,  of  23,000  cubic  meters'  capacity,  weighing  only  16 
tons.  It  is  110  meters  (360  feet)  long  by  19  meters  (62  feet)  greatest 
beam.  Its  engines  are  of  1,000  horse-power,  and  because  of  its  light- 
ness it  is  expected  to  prove  faster  than  the  new  Zeppelins. 

All  military  dirigibles  carry  searchlights,  wireless  outfits,  and  ma- 
chine guns  in  their  cars.  They  also  have  funnels  leading  from  the  car 
through  the  gas  envelope,  so  that  men  may  mount  to  the  top  of  the 
body  and  operate  machine  guns  mounted  thereon,  and  thus  repel 
attacks  from  above. 

Aeroplanes. — Little  need  be  said  by  way  of  description  of  the  aero- 


120 


AIRCRAFT    AND    WIRELESS 


plane.  The  public  has  been  so  fascinated  by  its  exploits  during  the 
past  few  years  and  has  followed  its  developments  so  keenly  that  nearly 
everj^one  is  familiar  with  its  details  and  its  various  types.  We  need 
onlj^  say  here  that  the  monoplane  is  the  better  adapted  for  speed,  while 


French  Air-ship — ^Zeppelin  Type 


the  biplane,  on  account  of  its  superior  structural  strength,  has  greater 
lifting  power.  Recent  military  aeroplanes  have  been  quite  heavily 
armored,  men,  rudders,  and  engines  being  covered.  They  are  armed 
with  machine  guns  usually  operated  by  a  gunner  who  sits  below  the 
aviator  with  the  gun  fixed  between  his  legs,  and  very  fair  aeroplane 
shooting  records  have  been  reported.  The  recoil  of  the  gun  does  not 
noticeably  disturb  the  balance  of  the  machine.  Various  bomb-drop- 
ping devices  have  been  invented ;  but  so  far  nothing  of  that  kind  has 


AEROPLANES 


121 


proved  reliable.  Bombs,  of  course,  can  be  thrown  overboard  at  ran- 
dom from  any  aircraft,  and  may  by  accident  do  great  damage,  but  to 
plant  them  surely  upon  a  given  spot  under  war  conditions  is  quite 
another  matter.  Anyone  who  has  ever  tried  to  hit  a  stationary  target, 
at  a  known  range,  with  a  rifle,  can  easily  imagine  the  difficulty  of 
firing  from  an  air-ship  going  at  the  rate  of  fifty  miles  an  hour,  either 
at  a  stationary  object  or  at  an  aeroplane  darting  about  the  heavens 
like  a  great  dragon-fly.     On  the  other  hand,  before  the  war  began. 


The  Car  of  a  French  Armored  Aeroplane 


very  successful  records  were  made  with  guns  and  rifles  from  the 
ground  against  kite-targets  representing  aeroplanes  and  drawn  b}'' 
automobiles;  and  despatches  have  frequently  mentioned  the  destruc- 
tion of  both  aeroplanes  and  air-ships  by  gun-fire.  No  aircraft  can 
operate  efl'ectually  at  a  greater  altitude  than  5,000  feet,  and  though 
that  is  nearly  a  mile  in  the  air,  it  is  well  within  rifle-range,  not  to  men- 
tion howitzers,  which  can  throw  shrapnel  shells,  belching  clouds  of 
bullets,  three  times  that  distance.  Guns  specially  designed  for  use 
against  aircraft  can  be  made  to  shoot  vertically  if  necessary. 

The  air-ship  has  two  great  advantages  over  the  aeroplane — two 
advantages,  in  fact,  which  make  it  greatly  to  be  dreaded.  It  can  sail 
at  night  and,  in  favorable  weather,  remain  almost  stationary  over  a 
cl^osen  spot.  The  aeroplane,  on  the  other  hand,  will  fall  to  the  ground 
unless  its  speed  is  fully  twenty  miles  an  hour,  and  an  aviator  cannot 


AIRCRAFT    AND    WIRELESS 


steer  his  aeroplane  without  some  guiding  hghts  and  cannot  land  safely 
unless  he  can  see  the  ground  before  him.  In  order  to  ward  off  air-ships 
from  fortifications,  fleets,  and  other  vital  spots,  it  has  been  proposed  to 
sow  the  air  with  aerial  mines,  held  aloft  by  balloons,  in  a  manner 
analogous  to  the  sea  mine-field. 

In  aerial  tactics,  the  air-ship  holds  the  same  relative  position  that 
the  dreadnought  holds  on  the  sea — indeed,  in  length,  air-ships  do  not 


Dirigible  Flying  Over  French  Artillery 

faU  far  short  of  the  smaller  battle-ships — and,  as  the  sea-dreadnought 
is  protected  while  at  anchor  by  a  restless  shoal  of  torpedo-destroyers, 
so  the  air-dreadnought  will  be  accompanied  hj  a  flock  of  aeroplanes 
to  protect  her  against  the  raids  of  the  enemy's  aeroplanes  or  to  drive 
them  away  before  attacking. 

A  very  interesting  development  of  the  aeroplane  is  the  flying  boat, 
or  hydro-aeroplane.  These  craft  are  like  huge  ducks,  taking  their 
flight  from  and  landing  upon  the  water  with  the  utmost  ease.  Real- 
izing the  great  value  of  such  craft  in  naval  operations,  England  has 
been  especially  active  in  their  development  and  construction,  and  her 
fleets  to-day  are  accompanied  by  flocks  of  hydro-aeroplanes.    She  has 


HYDRO-AEROPLANES 


123 


British  Armored    Hydro-ae'poplane  with   Machine   Gun 

done  very  little  with  dirigibles,  and  she  places  her  main  reliance  upon 
her  sea-plane  fleet.  The  newest  form  of  sea-plane  used  in  the  British 
navy  has  folding  wings,  so  that  it  can  be  tucked  snugly  away  on  the 
deck  of  a  war-ship,  like  a  big  moth  at  rest.  An  aeroplane  ship  is  now 
under  construction  w^hich  will  "mother"  twenty  or  thirty  machines  of 
this  type.  They  can  be  launched  from  and  reshipped  to  a  battle-ship 
in  quite  rough  weather  in  the  open  sea. 

On  land,  the  automobile  has  been  pressed  into  service  for  the 
transport  both  of  aeroplanes  and  of  the  tanks  of  compressed  hydro- 
gen used  for  inflating  dirigibles. 

Whatever  may  be  the  result  of  the  test  of  aircraft  as  weapons 
of  war,  the  airship  with  its  great  lifting  capacity  can  certainly  be  put 
to  very  effective  use  as  a  means  of  transport  of  war  supplies  to  the 
front,  and  of  wounded  to  the  rear;  while  the  aeroplane  has  already 
demonstrated  its  preeminence  as  a  means  of  reconnoissance  over  all 


124 


AIRCRAFT    AND    WIRELESS 


methods  hitherto  known.  The  latest  British  army  maneuvers  pre- 
ceding this  war  were  said  to  have  come  to  a  deadlock  because  the 
opposing  army  commanders  knew  the  enemy's  dispositions  so  exactly 
and  were  so  promptly  notified  of  strategical  movements  by  aeroplane 
observers  that  neither  side  could  strike  effectively.     In  all  previous 


Aeroplane  Taking  Flight  from    British    Battle-ship 


wars,  the  onty  means  of  finding  the  enemy's  position  was  by  cavalry 
scouts  thrown  out  in  advance  of  the  army,  and  frequently  "recon- 
noissances  in  force,"  tentative  attacks  made  for  the  purpose  of  draw- 
ing the  enemy's  fire  and  making  him  disclose  his  forces,  were  resorted 
to.  Now,  the  eagle-eyed  aeroplane  observes  and  reports  every  move 
of  the  enemy,  and  modern  warfare  has  become  a  game  of  chess  in 
which  all  moves  are  made  in  the  presence  of  both  players,  and  strata- 
gems and  surprises  are  relegated  to  a  minor  role. 


AEROPLANES    AS    SCOUTS 


125 


A  very  important  task  of  the  aeroplane  is  to  observe  and  report  by 
wireless  upon  the  effect  of  gun-fire.  Modern  field  guns  are  operated 
at  high  angles  and  long  ranges.  The  aeroplane  observer  can  direct 
changes  in  range  and  direction,  if  necessary,  and  can  instruct  the 
gunners  how  to  bring  their  fire  to  bear  upon  an  object,  invisible  to 
them,  such  as  a  body  of  troops  behind  a  hill,  for  example.  It  is 
thought,  also,  that  the  aeroplane  may  be  used  to  spy  out  submarines. 


Aeroplane  Circling   H.   M.  S.   "Conqueror" 


As  is  well  known,  it  is  possible  from  a  high  altitude,  under  favorable 
circumstances,  to  see  for  some  distance  below  the  surface  of  water 
beneath.  Advantage  will  be  taken  of  this  fact  by  sea-planes,  which 
will  hover  around  a  fleet  at  sea,  watching  for  submarines,  like  an 
eagle  on  the  lookout  for  fish. 

Wireless  Telegraphy  in  War. — On  January  8,  1815,  was  fought 
the  battle  of  New  Orleans,  both  sides  being  ignorant  that  a  treaty  of 
peace  was  signed  fifteen  days  before.  Just  a  century  later,  Ger- 
man ships  on  the  high  seas  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  warned  that  war 
had  been  declared  by  messages  flying  through  the  air,  suddenly  turned 
about  and  fled  for  the  nearest  port  of  safety,  lest  they  should  fall  a 


126 


AIRCRAFT    AND    WIRELESS 


prey  to  lurking  British  cruisers.  Nothing  could  more  graphically 
illustrate  the  great  strides  that  have  been  made  bj^  science  in  the  space 
of  one  hundred  years.  As  has  happened  with  so  many  other  wonder- 
ful modern  inventions,  wureless  telegraphy  and  telephony  have  been 
promptly  pressed  into  military  service,  so  that  they  are  now  the  chief 
means  of  communication  between  ships  and  distant  sections  of  great 


French  Automobile   V, .:_.--_  Station 


armies  in  the  field.  In  former  days,  flags  and  semaphores  w^ere  the 
sole  means  of  communicating  between  ships.  Now,  though  signals 
are  still  necessary  and  are  constantly  used  in  maneuvering,  war-sliips 
can  not  only  communicate  readily  and  at  great  distances  by  wireless, 
but  each  ship  (in  the  British  navy,  at  least)  is  an  independent  wire- 
less telephone  exchange,  and  officers  may  talk  from  ship  to  ship. 
Aeroplanes  and  dirigibles  are  also  equipped  with  wireless  outfits,  and 
can  keep  constantly  in  touch  with  their  bases.  In  the  field,  kites  or 
small  balloons,  bearing  the  antennae  of  wireless  apj^aratus,  may  be 
sent  up  and  connection  thus  be  made  with  similar  aerial  stations  along 


WIRELESS    ON   SEA    AND    LAND 


127 


the  far-extended  front  of  the  modern  army,  or  with  permanent  sta- 
tions in  the  rear. 

During  the  siege  of  Adrianople,  a  lonely  little  wireless  instrument 
kept  up  an  uninterrupted  communication  with  Constantinople,  despite 
the  eiforts  of  the  besiegers  to  smother  it  with  their  more  powerful 


British   Field  Telegraph  Station 


currents.  Secrecy  in  military  wireless  telegraphy  is  accomplished  by 
"tuning"  two  or  more  instruments  sympathetically.  The  "tune,"  or 
wave-length,  can  be  changed  easily  at  will,  and  the  sending  operator, 
having  sent  a  few  words  at  one  wave-length,  sends  a  code  signal  that 
means  he  is  going  to  alter  his  machine  to  a  new  tune.  The  receiving 
operator,  knowing  the  code,  immediately  changes  his  instrument  to 
correspond,  and  the  interchange  continues  without  interruption.  In 
this  way,  an  enemy  who  happened  to  "cut  in"  would  be  baffled.  It  is 
this  variety  of  wave-length  that  makes  possible  the  uninterrupted  com- 
munication of  the  great  European  land  wireless  stations,  although 


128 


AIRCRAFT   AND   WIRELESS 


^"mm 

~ 

t^^'l 

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I*. 

ii 

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u.i;^^ 

WT^    " 

^^.r    :     IM    1  1 

kA    M 

■  "iP'ri    " 

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^SHHJI 

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Battery  of  German  Field   Kitchens 


the  operating  spheres  of  English,  French,  German,  and  Russian  sys- 
tems overlap  in  a  veritable  aerial  tangle. 

Such  are  the  implements  with  which  modern  war  is  waged.  In 
ingenuity  they  are  fiendish;  in  capacity  for  destruction,  appalling. 
The  mind  reels  in  contemplating  their  awful  havoc-wreaking  possi- 
bilities. Whether  their  performances  in  actual  service  will  equal  their 
mechanical  potentialities,  or  whether  many  of  them  prove  to  be  more 
potent  in  their  moral  effect  than  in  their  actual  execution,  the  opera- 
tions of  the  next  few  months  will  tell. 


M^^OK 


Horiioni 
Rudde 


Shock  Absorber 

ScabilityPiftnea   ANTOINETTE  MONOPLANE. 


Tips 


BLfiRIOT  MONOPLANE. 


From  Nelson's  "War  Atlas. 
AEROPLANES 
This   Diagram   Shows  the   Structure   of  the    Leading   Types   of   IVIilitary  Aeroplanes 


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CHAPTER  IX 

EUROPEAN    WARS   SINCE    1815 

When  the  first  Napoleon  had  overrun  Europe,  left  the  bones  of 
his  devoted  soldiers  on  every  field,  overturned  nearly  every  govern- 
ment, and  set  his  relatives  on  thrones,  the  nations  that  had  been  "made 
pale  by  his  cannons'  rattle"  realized  that  a  combined  effort  to  crush 
his  power  was  necessary  to  their  very  existence.  The  final  result 
was  Waterloo,  with  St.  Helena  in  the  distance.  All  Europe  then 
needed  a  breathing-spell;  but,  for  all  its  severe  lessons,  that  was  by 
no  means  the  end  of  European  wars,  for  the  hills  and  plains  and  rivers 
of  the  crowded  continent  were  unchanged,  and  human  nature  re- 
mained the  same.  After  six  years  the  guns  began  to  boom  again,  and 
the  European  historian  must  count  twelve  considerable  wars  since 
that  time — an  average, of  one  in  less  than  eight  years.  The  reader 
will  probably  be  interested  in  the  following  brief  narratives  of  those 
contests,  and  thus  will  be  able  the  better  to  understand  the  greater 
one  that  is  now  in  progress. 

The  Greek  War  for  Independence  (1821-'30) — In  March,  1821, 
the  Greeks,  weary  of  the  oppressive  rule  of  Turkey,  which  had  lasted, 
with  brief  intervals  under  Venetian  rule,  from  1460,  became  filled  with 
a  new  and  ardent  desire  for  national  independence  and  broke  out  in 
revolt  against  the  Ottoman  Empire  at  Jassy,  Moldavia.  The  Turks 
tried  to  crush  the  insurrectionists  in  their  usual  barbarous  way,  by 
summary  executions,  murders,  and  massacres,  one  of  the  worst  of 
which  occurred  in  Chios  (Scio),  an  island  in  the  ^Egean  Sea,  where  a 
population  of  about  100,000  was  reduced  to  2,000.  But  even  these 
savage  measures  could  not  suppress  the  rising  tide  of  Greek  national- 
ism, and  in  January,  1822,  a  constitution  for  a  new  Greece  was  drawn 
up  at  Epidaurus  by  the  national  assembly. 

The  noble  patriotism  and  heroic  fighting  of  the  long-suffering 
Greeks,  and  the  frightful  massacres  committed  by  their  Turkish  op- 
pressors, awakened  the  sympathy  and  indignation  of  the  civilized 

131 


132 


EUROPEAN    WARS    SINCE    1815 


The  charge  of  the  Scots  Greys  at  Waterloo  in  1815 


world,  and  men  of  other  countries  offered  their  services  to  Greece  in 
her  righteous  revolt.  The  most  celebrated  man  among  these  alien  al- 
lies was  Lord  Byron,  the  English  poet,  who  joined  the  Greek  army  in 
1824  but  died  within  the  j^ear. 

Early  in  1825,  the  Turkish  sultan,  in  a  determined  effort  to  deal  a 
crushing  blow  to  the  Greek  rebellion,  called  to  his  aid  Ibrahim  Pasha, 
Viceroy  of  Egypt,  who,  with  an  army  of  twenty  thousand  Egyptians, 
landed  on  the  peninsula  of  the  ]Morea  (the  Peloponnesus,  as  it  was 
known  in  the  ancient  world) .  For  a  time  the  struggle  of  Greece  for 
freedom  seemed  hopeless,  but  European  interest  in  her  plight  in- 
creased rather  than  diminished,  and  at  last  England,  France,  and  Rus- 
sia determined  to  intervene.  A  protocol  was  drawn  up  in  London, 
July  6,  1827,  demanding  an  armistice,  and  at  the  same  time  these 
Powers  augmented  their  own  forces  in  the  INIediterranean  Sea.  Turkey 
would  not  listen  to  the  warnings  or  demands  of  the  three  Powers,  how- 
ever, but,  reljdng  on  the  aid  of  Ibrahim  Pasha  and  his  troops,  contin- 


THE    FRENCH    REVOLUTION    OF    1830 


133 


i^yi 

W^jj^                    '^^^M 

I^^Kf  /  <#^J|H^^P 

im 

''^^^^^^^^^^^^H 

^JMBb 

^X?^iiiS8BI 

HB^iffiH 

umm 

The  regiment  fought  in  Belgium  again  in  1914 


ued  her  oppression  of  the  Greeks  until  the  international  dispute  came 
to  a  climax  in  the  decisive  naval  bMtle  of  Navarino  (October  20, 
1827),  in  which  the  allied  forces  annihilated  the  combined  fleet  of 
Turkish  and  Egyptian  vessels.  In  the  following  year  (1828-'29) 
Russia  attacked  Turkey  with  land  forces  and  advanced  victoriously 
as  far  as  Adrianople,  where  peace  was  finally  declared  after  Turkey 
had  yielded  to  the  demands  of  the  allied  Powers ;  and  by  another  pro- 
tocol, issued  in  London  in  1830,  Greece  was  proclaimed  an  indepen- 
dent kingdom,  her  first  monarch  under  the  new  order  of  things  being 
Otho,  the  second  son  of  Louis  I  of  Bavaria. 

The  Revolution  of  July  (1830). — ^After  the  death  of  Louis 
XVIII  (1824)  his  brother,  Charles  X,  ascended  the  throne  of  France. 
These  kings  were  brothers  of  Louis  XVI,  executed  in  the  French 
Revolution  of  1792-'93.  Louis  XVIII  accomplished  much  good  for 
his  realm,  and  under  his  reign  the  country  enjoyed  a  high  degree  of 
prosperity.     But  his  successor  did  not  follow  his  brother's  moderate 


134 


REVOLUTIONARY    MOVEMENTS    OF    1848  135 

and  liberal  policy.    He  called  Prince  Polignac  to  power  as  the  head 
of  an  extreme  royalist  ministry. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  in  1830  an  assurance 
was  given  to  the  French  people  that  the  constitutional  charter,  which 
granted  public  liberties,  would  be  respected.  But,  to  divert  the  pub- 
lic mind  from  a  demand  for  greater  political  liberty,  Polignac  made 
an  appeal  to  the  French  love  of  military  glory  by  organizing  an  expe- 
dition to  northern  Africa  to  suppress  the  Algerian  pirates  along  the 
coast.  The  army  took  possession  of  the  city  of  Algiers  and  then  of  the 
whole  of  Algeria,  and  put  an  end  to  piracy  in  the  neighboring  waters. 

In  France  certain  ordinances  were  passed  somewhat  later  (July 
25, 1830)  which  were  intended  to  muzzle  the  liberty  of  the  press; meet- 
ings of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  were  dissolved,  and  a  new  mode  of 
election  was  established,  all  former  elections  being  declared  illegal. 

The  success  of  the  army  in  Algiers  did  not  dazzle  the  French  so 
much  as  to  oif  set  these  oiFenses  against  their  comparatively  new-found 
rights  and  liberties,  and  the  people  rose  in  protest,  which  soon  in- 
creased to  riot  and  open  revolt.  The  revolution  lasted  only  three  days 
(July  27-29) ,  but  while  it  raged  the  palace  of  the  Tuileries  was  again 
invaded,  as  in  the  great  Revolution,  and  Charles  X  was  driven  out  of 
France.  The  crown  was  immediately  offered  to  Louis  Philippe,  a 
great-grandnephew  of  Louis  XIV,  and  was  accepted,  which  act  closed 
the  brief  but  stormy  Revolution  of  July. 

The  Revolutionary  Movements  of  1848. — A  hundred  years  ago, 
throughout  Central  Europe,  began  a  political  movement  which,  gath- 
ering strength  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  brought  about 
a  profound  change  in  systems  of  government.  Up  to  that  time  the 
spirit  of  absolutism  had  prevailed.  Emperors  and  kings  apparently 
waged  wars  to  please  themselves,  and  when  a  peace  was  concluded  the 
people  over  whom  they  ruled  found  themselves  little  better  off  than 
before.  Constitutional  government  was  still  a  dream.  Free  speech 
and  a  free  press  were  unknown.  Feudalism  was  still  in  force,  and  ap- 
parently there  was  no  relief  from   tyranny  and  excessive  taxation. 

One  of  the  chief  causes  in  maintaining  these  conditions  was  the 
lack  of  national  solidarity.  The  voluntary  union  of  men  speaking 
the  same  language,  animated  by  the  same  ideals,  and  bound  by  ties  of 
blood,  had  not  been  accomplished.     The  destinies  of  races  were  at  the 


THE     RUINS    OF     LOUVAIN 
The  Hotel  de  Ville  Is  Standing  Intact  Among  the  Ruins  of  the  Beautiful  Cathedral  of  St.  Pierre 


13$ 


REVOLUTIONARY    MOVEMENTS    OF    1848  137 

mercy  of  conquerors  and  statesmen,  and  countries  were  partitioned, 
re-united  and  again  partitioned,  without  reference  to  the  laws  of  natu- 
ral development  or  to  the  consent  of  the  governed.  The  Austrian 
rulers  in  the  early  nineteenth  century,  preceding  the  ascension  of 
Francis  Joseph,  were  men  of  small  capacity,  yet  one  statesman. 
Prince  Metternich — with  the  prestige  of  the  empire  to  support  him — 
was  able  to  impose  his  will  upon  Central  Europe,  and  to  smother  the 
expression  of  all  liberal  ideas. 

The  popular  uprising  that  resulted,  among  other  things,  in  the 
fall  of  Metternich,  his  flight  and  exile,  was  twofold.  Its  aim  was,  in 
the  first  place,  to  reform  the  intolerable  abuses  of  the  State,  local  and 
general,  and  in  the  second  place,  so  to  arouse  the  spirit  of  freedom  that 
men  united  by  common  ties  of  race  and  language  would  rally  under 
the  same  banner. 

Thus  it  came  about  that,  though  much  blood  was  shed  to  little  im- 
mediate purpose,  and  though  the  revolutions  of  these  years  ended  in 
failure,  Europe  witnessed  the  birth  of  nationalism.  In  Italy,  Maz- 
zini  and  Garibaldi,  in  Hungary,  Kossuth  and  Francis  Deak,  in  Ger- 
many, Hecker  and  Robert  Blum,  collaborated  with  speech  and  sword 
to  shatter  the  traditions  of  despotism  and  prepare  the  way  for  free- 
dom and  unity. 

This  is  the  significance  of  the  revolutionary  movements  in  Italy, 
Austria,  Germany,  and  to  a  less  degree  in  France,  in  1848-'49.  From 
the  first  outbreak  of  the  people  at  Messina,  in  September,  1847,  and 
the  speech  of  Kossuth  at  Presburg,  in  the  following  March,  till  the 
late  summer  of  1849,  with  despotism  in  the  saddle  once  more,  is  a 
period  embodying  an  idea  that  has  left  its  mark  on  European  civiliza- 
tion. Finally,  it  bears  a  very  special  relation  to  the  terrible  war  of 
1914.  For  the  triumph  of  the  national  principle  which  made  pos- 
sible a  united  Italy  and  a  unified  Germany  has  at  the  same  time  inten- 
sified the  feeling  of  race,  and  put  patriotism  on  close  terms  with 
contempt  and  hatred  for  neighbors  who  speak  another  language.  In 
the  European  war  now  raging  it  seems  that  national  jealousies  and 
national  prejudices  and  ambitions  weigh  heavy  in  the  balance  against 
the  good  results  we  associate  with  the  triumph  of  the  national 
principle. 

After  the   fall  of   Napoleon   the   representatives   of   the   great 


138 


REVOLUTIONARY    MOVEMENTS    OF    1848  139 

Powers  assembled  at  Vienna  to  reconstruct  the  map  of  Europe 
and  divide  the  spoils  of  war.  This  assemblage  was  called  a  congress, 
yet  really  it  was  not  a  parliament  at  all.  Its  proceedings  were  vested 
in  a  committee  that  marked  out  boundaries  and  apportioned  kingdoms 
by  the  rule  of  might.  The  dominating  nations  took  as  much  as  they 
could  get  without  actually  coming  to  blows,  and  the  little  States  of 
Europe  were  obliged  to  be  content  with  what  was  given  them.  As 
Prince  Metternich  was  the  controlling  spirit  of  the  congress,  the 
Hapsburg  dominions  did  not  suffer,  and  Italy  once  more  came  under 
Austria's  control.  But,  although  absolutism  in  Europe  had  regained 
its  old  ascendancy,  the  leaven  of  the  first  French  Revolution  was  at 
work.  During  the  thirty  years  of  peace  that  followed  the  Napoleonic 
wars,  liberal  ideas  were  generated  in  the  minds  of  Magyar  and  Slav, 
Teuton  and  Italian,  and  there  came  a  time  when  the  demand  for  re- 
form began  to  find  expression  in  acts.  In  Italy  especially  were  the 
reformers  at  work,  and  the  flame  of  insurrection  had  already  been  kin- 
dled in  some  of  the  Italian  States.  From  that  time  it  became  a  con- 
test between  freedom  and  repression,  between  the  modernism  of 
Mazzini  and  the  stifling  system  of  Metternich.  The  world  was  to 
witness  the  strange  spectacle  of  Italy's  spiritual  liberator,  proscribed 
by  his  native  land,  controlling  from  his  cheap  lodgings  in  London  the 
forces  that  were  to  overthrow  the  autocrat  of  Austria. 

The  immediate  impulse  to  the  general  revolution  came  from 
France — in  other  words,  from  Paris.  The  French  people,  by  the 
Revolution  of  July,  had  driven  out  King  Charles,  only  to  set  up 
Louis-Philippe,  Duke  of  Orleans,  with  the  old  title  of  King  of  the 
French.  With  him  came  a  freer  constitution;  but  he  did  not  prove 
to  be  a  popular  ruler,  and  neither  he  nor  his  chief  minister,  Guizot, 
who  succeeded  Thiers,  understood  the  temper  of  the  people  or  the  eco- 
nomic needs  of  the  times.  The  crisis  came  when  a  great  public  ban- 
quet was  arranged  by  the  Opposition  to  proclaim  the  nature  of  its 
demands.  The  king  fortunately  forbade  the  people  to  assemble  in 
this  manner,  and  so  there  was  no  banquet.  Instead,  there  were  bar- 
ricades, and  from  behind  these  barricades  an  aroused  republicanism 
suddenly  sprang  to  arms.  This  was  on  February  21-22,  1848.  Two 
days  later  the  "Citizen  King,"  rudely  awakened  from  his  false  sense 
of  security  by  this  unexpected  demonstration  of  the  popular  will, 


140  EUROPEAN    WARS    SINCE    1815 

stepped  down  from  his  throne  and  made  way  for  the  Second  Republic. 

It  was  as  if  the  Goddess  of  Liberty,  incarnate  in  France,  had 
tossed  her  cap  in  air  for  all  Central  Europe  to  see.  Metternich  could 
not  gather  in  his  fist  the  wind  of  destiny,  and  so  the  tempest  broke. 

In  Hungary,  Louis  Kossuth,  the  uncompromising,  let  loose  his 
thunderbolts  of  oratory.  His  speech  in  the  Diet,  INIarch  3,  1848,  not 
only  inflamed  his  passionate  compatriots  with  revolutionarj^  ardor,  but 
aroused  Vienna  as  well.  Students  and  laborers  clashed  with  soldiers, 
and  blood  was  shed.  Metternich,  perceiving  that  his  career  was  at  an 
end,  fled  from  the  flames  of  his  burning  residence,  and  sought  safety 
in  England.  Two  weeks  later  the  Hungarian  Diet  enacted  the 
March  laws  that  made  Hungary  independent,  creating  a  ministry 
through  which  the  Austrian  monarch  must  exercise  his  royal  author- 
ity. Hungary  was  to  have  her  own  army  and  her  own  flag.  With 
Budapest,  not  Presburg,  as  the  seat  of  government,  she  was  to  enjoy, 
with  a  modern  constitution,  a  free  press,  religious  liberty,  and  trial  by 
jury.  The  people,  not  the  nobility,  were  to  elect  the  Diet.  All  this 
in  a  countrj^  whose  13,000,000  population  embraced  11,000,000  serfs. 

Reformers  in  Vienna  and  the  Austrian  provinces  seized  their  op- 
portunity to  exact  from  the  Government  not  only  local  reforms  but  a 
contribution  for  the  empire  as  well.  These  demands  were  granted, 
as  in  Hungary,  because  the  Austrian  army  was  in  Italy,  and  the 
House  of  Hapsburg  could  only  bide  its  time. 

The  same  policy  of  craft  and  concession  marked  the  emperor's  at- 
titude toward  the  Czechs.  Bohemia  entertained  national  aspirations. 
While  greatly  in  the  majority,  the  Czechs  feared  the  supremacy  of  the 
smaller  but  richer  German  population;  therefore  they  sought  to  re- 
vive their  own  language,  and,  along  with  sweeping  local  reforms,  to 
obtain  the  privilege  of  national  self-government. 

Germany,  too,  soon  fell  into  line.  The  loosely-knit  Confedera- 
tion of  German  States,  formed  by  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  had  been 
a  prop  in  the  reactionary  system  devised  and  maintained  by  INIetter- 
nich,  but  now  the  time  seemed  ripe  not  merely  for  reforms  but  for 
realizing  the  Liberals'  dream  of  unitj^  The  Prussian  King  did  not, 
for  the  time,  dispel  that  dream.  The  Parisian  custom  of  erecting 
barricades  in  certain  emergencies  was  now  adopted  by  the  people  of 
Berlin,  and  scenes  of  violence  marked  the  week  of  March  15.     So  the 


REVOLUTIONARY    MOVEMENTS    OF    1848  141 

king  made  certain  provinces  by  proclamation ;  the  Liberals,  by  way  of 
a  beginning,  assembled  soon  afterward  at  Heidelberg,  to  provide  for 
a  popular  election  of  a  constitutional  assembly,  and  the  parliament 
thus  elected,  with  the  reluctant  consent  of  Diet  and  petty  princes,  met 
at  Frankfort  on  May  18.  Its  deliberations  were  attended  with  great 
difficulties  and  dangers,  but  a  better  understanding  of  what  hap- 
pened will  be  reached  if  we  observe  the  state  of  things  in  Italy. 

The  Italians,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind,  were  not  a  nation  at  all, 
politically  speaking,  and  had  not  been  since  the  time  of  the  Romans. 
Actually,  they  were  bound  together  by  such  ties  of  race,  tradition, 
sentiment,  and  language  as  had  no  counterpart  in  the  artificial  king-, 
doms  of  the  north,  with  their  Babel  of  tongues  and  their  appalling 
confusion  of  populations.  It  followed  that  in  Italy  there  was  little 
feeling  of  loyalty  to  the  Hapsburgs — over-lords  and  cruel  oppressors, 
with  no  natural  right  to  their  territory — and  that  the  revolutionary 
movement  in  the  peninsula  was  first  of  all  aimed  at  their  expulsion. 
Besides  helping  to  keep  the  petty  princes  on  their  precious  thrones, 
Austria  was  the  owner  of  Lombardy  and  Venetia,  with  their  principal 
cities  of  Milan  and  Venice.  To  the  west  was  Piedmont,  an  indepen- 
dent State  ruled  by  Charles  Albert,  King  of  Sardinia.  Italy  had 
long  been  a  network  of  secret  societies  plotting  Austria's  ruin,  but 
Mazzini  founded  in  Young  Italy  an  organization  of  greater  import. 
Poetry,  oratory,  statesmanship  became  allies  in  a  common  movement. 
In  1846  Pius  IX  was  elected  pope,  and  his  sympathy  with  measures 
of  reform  excited  the  highest  expectations.  The  way  seemed  to  be 
prepared. 

On  March  18,  1848,  Milan  struck  the  first  blow.  The  people  rose 
against  Radetzky,  the  savage  and  redoubtable  general  in  command  of 
Austria's  army,  and  after  five  days  of  furious  fighting  they  drove  the 
troops  from  the  city.  The  Austrians,  in  this  encounter,  committed 
incredible  cruelties,  spitting  mere  children  on  the  points  of  their  bayo- 
nets and  torturing  prisoners  who  fell  into  their  hands.  In  Venice  a 
republic  was  proclaimed.  Charles  Albert,  who  had  shown  some  in- 
firmity of  purpose,  acted  at  last,  and  marched  at  the  head  of  his  army 
into  Lombardy.  Tuscany,  Naples,  and  the  papacy  rallied,  for  the 
time,  to  his  aid.  But  Radetzky,  veteran  of  many  bloody  campaigns, 
commanded  an  army  superior  in  organization  and  discipline.     Forced 


s  « 


Uft 


REVOLUTIONARY    MOVEMENTS    OF    1848  143 

out  of  Milan,  he  made  his  way  to  the  Quadrilateral  of  Venetia. 
Skilled  in  maneuver,  he  outgeneraled  Charles  Albert,  and  at  the  bat- 
tle of  Custozza,  July  25,  the  patriots  of  Piedmont  were  so  badly  de- 
feated that  Austria  recovered  Lombardy. 

Meanwhile  another  victory  had  been  won  by  Austria  nearer  home. 
In  the  revolution  of  1848  the  empire  was  able  to  uphold  its  suprem- 
acy less  by  feats  of  arms  than  by  the  diplomatic  cunning  that  pitted 
one  of  the  subject  races  against  another.  This  is  what  happened  in 
Bohemia.  The  Czechs  were  so  determined  to  nationalize  their  coun- 
try at  the  expense  of  the  Germans,  and  the  Germans  so  vigorously  op- 
posed the  attempt,  that  the  two  races  came  to  blows  at  Prague,  June 
12.  Windischgratz,  the  Austrian  commander,  saw  his  opportunity; 
Prague  was  promptly  bombarded  into  subjection,  and  the  aspirations 
of  Bohemia  were  at  an  end. 

The  Austrian  Government  then  proceeded  to  play  fast  and  loose 
with  Hungary,  where  the  Serbs,  Croatians,  and  Rumanians  were  de- 
manding equal  privileges  with  the  Magyars,  while  the  proud  followers 
of  Kossuth  were  opposed  to  anything  short  of  complete  Magyar 
domination.  The  Croats  especially  rebelled  against  the  proposal  that 
the  Magyar  language  should  become  the  official  speech  of  the  country. 
So  the  Vienna  Government  set  up  Gellachich,  a  Croatian  army  officer 
who  hated  the  Magyars,  as  Governor  of  Croatia.  Gellachich  did  what 
was  probably  expected  of  him  by  encouraging  the  antagonism  of 
Croat  and  Magyar,  and  Hungary  called  upon  Austria  to  keep  her 
pledge  and  recall  the  governor.  But  Austria's  policy  was  rooted  in 
insincerity.  Too  weak  to  repudiate  openly  the  sanction  of  the  March 
laws,  the  emperor  permitted  a  civil  war  of  Croatian  and  Serb  against 
Magyar.  Then,  growing  bolder,  on  October  3,  he  dissolved  the  Hun- 
garian Diet.  Thereupon  Vienna  itself  rose  against  him,  and  he  was 
compelled  to  seek  safety  in  Olmiitz,  only  to  return  when  the  army,  in 
command  of  Windischgratz,  laid  siege  to  Vienna,  and,  after  five  days 
of  fighting,  forced  an  entrance  to  the  capital,  October  31,  1848. 

But  force  of  arms  had  not  made  legal  the  abrogation  of  the  March 
laws,  so  Metternich's  worthy  successors  in  diplomacy  resorted  to  a  ruse. 
The  Emperor  Ferdinand  was  called  upon  to  abdicate  in  favor  of  his 
nephew,  Francis  Joseph  I.  His  accession,  December  2,  1848,  enabled 
the    Government,    headed    by    Schwarzenberg,    to    repudiate    the 


144  EUROPEAN    WARS    SINCE    1815 

acts  of  Ferdinand,  and  this  led,  in  1849,  to  Hungary's  open  revolt. 
The  Magyars  now  found  themselves  arrayed  not  only  against  the 
power  of  Austria,  but  agaii)st  Serb  and  Rumanian,  Croat  and  Sla- 
vonian. But  this  did  not  daunt  them.  Fired  by  the  zeal  of  Kossuth, 
and  aroused  to  reckless  courage  by  his  impetuous  followers,  the  Diet, 
on  April  14,  1849,  proclaimed  the  independence  of  Hungary. 

It  seemed  as  if  the  ominous  word,  "republic,"  might  actually  be 
uttered.  But  despotism,  with  an  earthquake  rumbling  in  its  ears,  is  not 
without  resources.  The  youthful  Francis  Joseph  saw  a  light  in  the 
East.  He  called  upon  the  Emperor  of  Russia  for  aid,  and  Nicholas 
I,  sympathizing  with  the  predicament  of  a  neighboring  monarch,  did 
not  turn  a  deaf  ear.  Then  Magyar  appealed  in  vain  to  Slav,  and 
even  to  the  Turk. 

Such  are  the  ironies  of  history,  especially  when  the  perspective 
ranges  back  from  the  battle-fields  of  1914.  The  rest  is  soon  told. 
Russians  and  Rumanians  on  the  east,  Austrians  on  the  west,  Serbs, 
Croatians,  and  Slavonians  on  the  south,  all  combined  to  crush  the 
forces  of  Hungary.  At  Vilagos,  August  13,  1849,  the  Hungarian 
general,  Gorgei,  surrendered.  Kossuth  took  refuge  with  the  Turks, 
who  treated  him  with  kindness.  The  Austrians,  with  less  considera- 
tion, hanged  many  of  the  friends  he  had  left  behind,  and  Francis 
Joseph  and  Nicholas  exchanged  felicitations.  The  peace  of  Europe 
had  been  preserved,  and  the  last  state  of  Hungary  was  worse  than  the 
first. 

Meanwhile  the  German  struggle  for  unity  was  making  little  head- 
way, for  the  parliament  at  Frankfort  faced  grave  perplexities.  The 
problem  was  to  replace  the  lax  confederation  by  a  kingdom  with  one 
ruler  and  a  common  parliament,  and  to  do  this  without  offense  to 
Austria  or  Prussia.  It  was  finally  agreed  to  include  in  the  Confed- 
eration only  the  German  provinces  of  Austria,  and  to  erect  a  heredi- 
tary empire  with  the  King  of  Prussia  as  ruler.  But  Austria  declined 
the  suggestion  to  part  with  these  provinces  or  to  be  ousted  from  the 
German  Confederation;  and  Frederick  William  of  Prussia,  partly 
because  the  offer  came  from  a  mere  parliament,  and  partly  because  of 
Austria's  attitude,  would  not  accept  the  crown.  So  the  Parliament 
of  Frankfort,  early  in  1849,  after  a  year  of  deliberating,  came  to  noth- 
ing; and  German  unity  awaited  a  stronger  hand. 


THE    CRIMEAN    WAR  145 

About  this  time  the  greater  struggle  of  Italy  was  drawing  to  its 
tragic  close.  Austria  and  Piedmont  had  made  a  temporary  truce,  and 
Lombardy  was  beneath  the  heel  of  military  oppression.  The  Italians, 
divided  by  rivalries,  could  no  longer  take  the  field  with  Charles  Albert, 
who  nevertheless  felt  himself  pledged  to  another  campaign.  This 
was  brief  and  decisive.  Radetzky  won  the  day  at  the  battle  of  No- 
vara,  March  23,  1849,  and  the  king,  denied  the  death  he  sought  at  the 
enemy's  hands,  resigned  his  throne  to  his  son,  Victor  Emmanuel  II. 
He  had  risked  all  in  the  cause  of  liberty,  and  the  sacrifice  had  not  been 
in  vain.  The  constitution  he  gave  Piedmont  is  to-day  the  constitu- 
tion of  Italy,  and  his  memory  as  that  of  a  martyr  is  kept  green. 

Absolutism  still  had  a  few  tasks  to  discharge,  and  it  discharged 
them  thoroughly.  In  Tuscany  and  Florence  the  little  Republics  that 
had  been  set  up  were  promptly  demolished.  The  Roman  Republic  re- 
mained, for  Pius  IX  had  fled  to  Naples,  and  Mazzini  ruled  there  as 
a  triumvir.  It  will  be  recalled  that  republican  France  contributed  the 
shock  that  has  galvanized  Central  Europe  into  the  semblance  of  na- 
tional life.  Still  a  republic,  it  now  became  her  role  to  rescue  the  pope, 
who  was  certainly  no  tyrant,  and  to  restore  him  to  Rome,  at  whatever 
inconvenience  to  the  occupants  of  his  dominions.  So  the  French  laid 
siege  to  the  city,  and  as  they  were  much  stronger  than  the  Romans,  it 
took  them  only  about  three  weeks  to  do  what  Louis  Bonaparte  had 
sent  them  to  do.  This  was  on  June  30,  1849.  Two  months  later  the 
Austrians  entered  Venice. 

The   Crimean  War  of  1854- '55 After  Waterloo,   the   Powers 

waged  no  great  war  for  thirty-nine  years.  As  we  have  seen,  the 
flames  kindled  by  the  mid-century  revolutionists  were  speedily  extin- 
guished, and  what  had  promised  to  be  a  conflagration  proved  to  be 
little  more  than  signal  fires  for  posterity.  The  peace  of  Europe  had 
been  threatened  by  men  ready  to  die  for  a  just  cause;  and  now,  in 
1854,  that  peace  was  lightly  shattered,  and  without  abiding  results. 

Nicholas  I  of  Russia  had  been  casting  covetous  eyes  on  Turkey, 
looking  for  an  opportunity  to  gain,  through  the  Bosphorus,  his 
proper  and  much  needed  access  to  the  sea.  England,  he  thought, 
might  aid  him.  So  he  made  overtures  to  that  Government,  in  the 
course  of  which  he  referred  to  the  sultan  as  "the  sick  man  of  Europe," 
whose   estates  might  profitably  be  divided  without   further  delay. 


146 


EUROPEAN    WARS    SINCE    1815 


Roll  Call  After  a  Crimean  Battle 


But  Queen  Victoria's  advisers  looked  coldly  upon  the  plan,  for, 
with  a  good  outlet  to  the  highway  of  nations,  Russia's  commerce 
would  be  a  strong  rival  to  her  own.  Nicholas  then  hit  upon  another 
plan,  which  he  hoped  to  carry  out  on  his  own  account.  In  the  Turk- 
ish domains  were  some  millions  of  Greek  Catholics,  whose  spiritual 
head  was  the  czar.  Russia,  France,  and  Turkey  had  quarreled  over 
the  question  of  protecting  pilgrims  in  the  Holy  Land,  and  though  the 
dispute  was  settled,  Russia  suddenly  asserted  a  right  of  guardianship 
over  all  Greek  Christians  in  the  sultan's  empire.  As  this  would 
open  the  way  to  Russia's  obvious  ambition,  Turkey,  acting  on  the  ad- 
vice of  France  and  England,  refused  to  comply  with  the  czar's  de- 
mand. Russia  immediately  invaded  the  Turkish  provinces  of  Mol- 
davia and  Wallachia. 

Russia,   with  her  enormous   army  and  immense   prestige,   had 
counted  on  an  easy  conquest.     Despotism  had  built  up  an  empire 


THE    CRIMEAN    WAR 


147 


The  English  Soldiers  Suffered  Severely  in  the  Crimea 


whose  forces  seemed  invincible;  but  actually,  it  was  honeycombed 
with  official  corruption  and  incompetence,  and  doomed  to  defeat. 
The  czar  had  fastened  a  duel  upon  a  "sick  man,"  only  to  find  him- 
self opposed  to  England,  France,  and  little  Sardinia,  who  all  took  a 
hand  as  Turkey's  allies :  England,  from  mixed  motives,  of  which  the 
uppermost  was  perhaps  the  ever-abiding  fear  for  India;  Napoleon 
III  for  reasons  personal  and  inherited;  Sardinia,  because  Cavour 
coveted  admission  to  the  councils  of  the  Powers. 

War  upon  Russia  was  declared  by  the  allies,  March  27,  1854,  and 
after  a  brief  campaign  the  Russians  were  driven  north  across  the 
Danube  and  forced  to  retire  from  the  two  Turkish  provinces.  Rus- 
sia was  now  ready  to  cry  quits ;  but  France  and  England  were  eager 
to  cripple  her,  and  so  preclude  the  peril  of  future  pretensions. 

Thus,  in  September,  1854,  the  Crimean  war  began  on  a  great 
scale.     It  will  always  be  memorable  for  the  battles  along  the  river 


BELGIAN    SOLDIERS    IN    THE    TRENCHES 
This  Photograph,  Taken  Near  Malines,   Shows  How  Carefully   Riflemen   Protect  Themselves 

Against  the  Enemy's  Fire 

148 


THE    FRANCO-AUSTRIAN    WAR  149 

Alma — Balaclava  (October  25)  and  Inkerman  (November  5)  — 
where  the  English  Royal  Guards  held  at  bay  a  body  of  Russians 
outnumbering  them  five  to  one.  But  eclipsing  these  in  courage  was 
the  long  and  terrible  siege  of  Sebastopol,  Russia's  chief  naval  station 
on  the  Crimean  peninsula  of  the  Black  Sea.  There  the  allies  sought 
to  crush  her  sea  power,  and  began  an  investment  that  lasted  eleven 
months.  It  was  a  murderous  siege — one  of  the  most  horrible  in 
modern  military  annals — 250,000  Russians  lost  their  lives.  In  the 
cruel  winter  the  campaign  by  land  had  been  hardly  less  dreadful. 
Bad  food  and  bitter  weather  and  mismanagement  played  havoc  with 
both  armies.    Mankind  has  seldom  paid  such  tithes  for  military  glory. 

Sebastopol  fell  on  September  8,  1855.  But  for  the  genius  of 
Russia's  engineer  with  a  German  name — Todleben — the  fortress 
might  have  fallen  sooner.  The  war  did  not  last  much  longer,  but 
the  Treaty  of  Paris  was  not  signed  until  March  30,  1856. 

Russia  emerged  from  this  useless  war  broken  and  humiliated.  By 
the  terms  of  the  treat}',  she  renounced  all  claims  affecting  the  Turkish 
provinces,  and  was  even  obliged  to  fall  back  from  the  Danube  by 
yielding  to  Moldavia  a  protecting  wedge  of  territory.  The  Black 
Sea  was  declared  neutral.  It  was  to  be  stripped  of  all  fortifications, 
opened  to  the  world's  commerce,  and  closed  to  all  battle-ships.  Tur- 
key, for  the  first  time,  was  admitted  to  the  concert  of  the  Powers. 

In  the  course  of  twenty  years  these  agreements  were  violated, 
and  thus  the  permanent  gains  of  the  war  were  slight.  It  did,  how- 
ever, teach  a  moral  lesson  to  Russia,  as  the  reforms  enacted  there  in 
the  reign  of  Alexander  II  w^ere  a  sequel  to  the  humbling  of  her  pride. 

The  Franco- Austrian  War  (1859). — Early  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury Italy,  which  was  rav^aged  by  the  wars  of  different  nations  that 
coveted  possession  of  her  beauty,  had  sunk  into  a  state  of  political 
aj)ath}^  She  had  long  been  a  bone  of  contention  among  Austrian 
aggressors,  Swiss  mercenaries,  German  invaders,  and  French  and 
Spanish  men-at-arms,  all  of  whom  trampled  her  underfoot.  The 
brilliant  Italians  passed  under  the  rule  of  a  succession  of  foreign 
princes,  who,  with  utter  disregard  of  the  welfare  of  the  people, 
treated  the  whole  country  as  conquered  territory  and  her  separate 
States  as  mere  pawns  in  their  games  of  diplomacy. 

The  war  over  the  Spanish  succession  (1700-'13)  led  to  the  ascen- 


150  EUROPEAN    WARS    SINCE    1815 

dancy  of  Austria  in  Italy;  and,  while  her  rule  was  comparatively 
just  and  humane,  the  general  condition  of  the  people  was  neglected, 
and  they  were  in  an  apparently  hopeless  state  of  laziness,  ignorance, 
and  poverty. 

The  invasion  of  Napoleon  brought  the  first  incentive  that  stirred 
the  insensate  masses  into  a  consciousness  of  life  and  awakened  a  de- 
sire for  change.  The  brilliant  conqueror  dashed  into  Italy  in  1796, 
driving  the  usurping  Austrians  before  him,  breaking  their  oppres- 
sive yoke  for  a  time,  and  spreading  among  the  people  some  of  the 
emancipated  ideas  of  the  French  Revolution. 

When  Napoleon  fell  (1815)  Italy,  of  which  he  had  made  him- 
self king,  fell  with  him,  and  soon  the  old  governments  regained  pos- 
session, Austria  assuming  control  of  Venetia.  The  restored  rulers 
determined  to  crush  all  popular  manifestations  by  enforcing  laws  of 
unusual  severity,  and  the  Austrian  Government  prosecuted  all  per- 
sons even  suspected  of  a  tendency  toward  liberalism.  But  the  Ital- 
ians had  heard  too  much  about  the  doings  of  the  populace  in  the  great 
Revolution  and  the  smaller  uprisings  that  came  later  to  submit 
tamely.  In  Rome  a  republic  had  been  organized  under  the  influence 
of  Giuseppe  Mazzini,  the  young  republican  patriot,  and  Giuseppe 
Garibaldi,  the  celebrated  soldier,  both  of  whom  wished  to  improve 
and  elevate  the  masses  and  fit  them  for  real  liberty.  But  papal  rule 
was  restored,  and  the  old  policy  of  proscription  and  persecution  held 
full  sway  again  in  the  Austrian  dominions  of  Italy. 

Only  Sardinia  kept  her  constitutions,  and  under  the  rule  of  King 
Victor  Emmanuel  I  she  had  regained  her  prosperity,  reorganized 
her  finances  and  her  army,  and  prepared  for  a  new  effort  to  liberate 
Italy  from  her  Austrian  bondage.  In  1858  Victor  Emmanuel  and 
Cavour  induced  Napoleon  III  to  enter  into  an  alliance  with  Italy 
against  Austria.  War  was  declared  in  1859,  and  Napoleon  brought 
the  French  army  to  the  assistance  of  his  allies.  The  combined  armies 
of  France  and  Sardinia  invaded  Lombardy,  and  on  June  4,  1859,  de- 
feated the  Austrians  in  a  great  battle  at  Magenta,  a  little  town  about 
sixteen  miles  west  of  Milan,  and  entered  the  city  of  Milan,  the  trium- 
phal procession  headed  by  the  Emperor  Napoleon  III  and  Victor 
Emmanuel.  The  French  and  Italian  (Sardinian)  troops  numbered 
about  55,000  men  and  the  Austrians  about  35,000.     Napoleon  him- 


THE    FRANCO-AUSTRIAN    WAR  151 

self  took  command  of  the  allied  armies,  but  a  large  share  of  the  credit 
of  the  brilliant  victory  belonged  to  General  MacMahon,  who  was  re- 
warded by  being  created,  on  the  battle-field  itself,  Marshal  of  France 
and  Duke  of  Magenta.  The  loss  of  the  allies  was  4,000;  Austria 
lost  10,000  killed  and  prisoners. 

The  Austrians  retreated  to  the  Quadrilateral — the  four  fort- 
resses of  Legagno,  Mantua,  Peschiera,  and  Verona — and  were  again 
defeated  (June  24)  in  a  battle  at  Solferino,  a  small  village  of  the 
Province  of  Mantua  in  northern  Italy,  in  which  the  allied  armies  lost 
18,000  men,  and  Austria,  under  Francis  Joseph  I,  then  twenty-nine 
years  old,  lost  20,000.  Throughout  this  conflict  Napoleon  issued 
orders  to  the  allied  troops  from  the  tower  of  the  Church  of  Cas- 
tiglione. 

But  Napoleon,  though  he  desired  to  free  Italy  from  Austria  and 
unite  her  several  States,  did  not  wish  to  do  so  under  the  rulers  of 
the  House  of  Savoy,  the  royal  house  of  Italy,  the  heads  of  which  have 
been  dukes  of  Savoy  since  1416,  kings  of  Sardinia  since  1720,  and 
kings  of  Italy  since  1861.  He  realized  that  this  would  be  the  proba- 
ble result  should  he  wholly  defeat  Austria,  whereas  his  own  plan  was 
to  form  eventually  an  Italian  federation  under  the  presidency  of 
the  pope  and  make  all  Italy  virtually  dependent  on  France.  Hence 
he  brought  about  a  meeting  with  the  Austrian  emperor  at  Villaf  ranca 
(a  town  in  the  Province  of  Verona,  eleven  miles  southwest  of  the  city 
of  Verona)  on  June  11,  1859,  and  arranged  preliminaries  which 
greatly  displeased  and  disappointed  the  Italian  people,  whose  hopes 
and  enthusiasm  had  been  kindled  by  Napoleon's  magnificent  promise 
to  set  "Italy  free  from  the  Alps  to  the  Adriatic!"  The  terms  of 
peace  gave  Lombardy  alone  to  Sardinia  and  left  Venetia  in  the  hands 
of  Austria.  Victor  Emmanuel  was  compelled  to  assent;  but  soon 
Tuscany,  Modena,  and  Parma  expelled  their  rulers  and  asked  to  be 
united  to  Sardinia.  This  request  Victor  Emmanuel  was  ready  to 
grant,  but,  in  order  to  obtain  Napoleon's  acquiescence,  Savoy  and 
Nice  were  ceded  to  him;  and  so  the  boundary  line  between  France 
and  Italy  was  finally  fixed  at  the  Alps.  The  terms  of  these  agree- 
ments of  peace  were  finally  embodied  in  the  Treaty  of  Zurich,  drawn 
in  October,  1859. 

The  Liberation  and  Unification    of  Italy  in  1859-70, — The  un- 


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152 


THE    UNIFICATION    OF    ITALY  153 

wholesome  and  ominous  tranquillit}^  of  Italy,  when  ruled  by  Austrian 
and  French  tyrants  under  whom  the  people  lived  in  a  state  of  stolid 
and  hopeless  endurance,  received  a  severe  shock  from  the  events  of 
the  French  Revolution. 

The  Treaty  of  Campo  Formio,  a  village  in  the  Province  of  Udina 
in  northeastern  Italy,  was  signed  in  1797  between  France  and  Aus- 
tria whereby  Austria,  the  Belgium  provinces,  recognized  the  Cisal- 
pine Republic,  and  took  over  the  greater  part  of  the  territory  of  Ven- 
etia,  France  retaining  the  Ionian  Islands  and  receiving  the  left  bank 
of  the  river  Rhine.  Northern  and  Central  Italy  were  divided  into 
four  republics — the  Cisalpine,  the  Ligurian,  the  Cispadine,  and  the 
Tiberine. 

In  1798  Lower  Italy  became  a  fifth  republic,  with  Naples  as  its 
capital.  Charles  Emmanuel,  King  of  Sardinia,  abdicated  his  throne, 
and  the  existing  pope  (Pius  VI)  decamped  from  Rome.  Thus  the  old 
order  of  the  whole  peninsula  was  suddenly  changed.  Yet  for  some 
time  the  unhappy  Italian  people  gained  nothing  by  it  but  new  des- 
pots, higher  taxes,  and  enforced  interest  in  the  uncertain  triumphs 
of  the  still  new  and  shaky  French  Republic.  After  Napoleon's  vic- 
tory at  Marengo  (June  14,  1800)  his  conquest  of  northern  Italy 
was  complete,  and  four  years  later,  when  he  became  Emperor  of  the 
French,  he  assumed  the  crown  of  Lombardy  also,  and  called  all  Italy 
his  kingdom. 

In  1804  a  new  division  of  the  Italian  provinces  had  to  be  made. 
The  pope  was  allowed  to  remain  in  Rome,  and  the  Bourbon  king,  Fer- 
dinand I,  to  continue  as  King  of  Naples.  Napoleon  renamed  Tus- 
cany the  Kingdom  of  Etruria  and  handed  it  over  to  the  Bourbons  of 
the  House  of  Parma;  while  the  Ligurian  and  Cisalpine  republics  re- 
ceived a  viceroy,  none  other  than  Eugene  Beauharnais,  Napoleon's 
stepson  by  the  Empress  Josephine. 

Following  Napoleon's  great  victory  at  Austerlitz  (December  2, 
1805),  he  added  Venetia  to  these  north  Italian  possessions,  and  in 
1806  drove  from  the  throne  of  Naples  the  Bourbon  Ferdinand  in  or- 
der to  seat  upon  it  his  own  brother,  Joseph  Bonaparte. 

In  1809  Napoleon  removed  the  pope  from  Rome,  sent  him  to 
France,  and  declared  Rome  a  part  of  the  French  Empire.  Soon 
the  new-made  Kingdom  of  Etruria  was  no  more,  but  was  rechris- 


154  EUROPEAN    WARS    SINCE    1815 

tened  Tuscany,  over  which  Napoleon,  ever  sohcitous  for  the  worldly 
welfare  of  his  family,  placed  his  sister,  EHza  Bacciocchi,  as  Duchess 
of  Tuscany  and  Princess  of  Piombino. 

Temporary  as  were  these  new  partitions  and  sub-partitions  of 
Italian  territory,  they  had  a  marked  influence  on  the  people.  A  new 
feeling — the  pride  of  nationality — arose  among  them,  springing  from 
the  military  service  of  the  recruits  that  were  drawn  from  all  districts 
from  the  armies  of  Napoleon,  by  the  breaking  down  of  ancient  boun- 
dary lines,  the  welcome  riddance  of  the  old  tyrannical  foreign  rulers, 
the  just  administration  of  the  code  of  Napoleonic  laws,  and  largely 
by  the  emancipated  spirit  that  had  emanated  from  the  French  Revo- 
lution and  still  permeated  all  French  institutions. 

But  after  the  battle  of  Waterloo  the  Congress  of  Vienna  swept 
away  Bonaparte's  new  creations,  and  by  1816  some  of  the  Italian 
sovereigns  had  returned  to  their  former  States;  the  pope  had  re- 
turned to  Rome,  education  was  no  longer  liberal  and  was  in  the  hands 
of  the  clerics.  Rigid  press  censorship  was  established,  and  every  per- 
son that  had  played  any  public  part  under  the  Napoleonic  regime 
was  watched,  followed,  and  all  his  movements  were  reported.  The  Na- 
poleonic Code  was  abolished  in  the  provinces  that  had  formed  part 
of  the  Italian  kingdom,  and  in  the  Papal  States  the  administration 
of  laws  was  placed  in  the  control  of  the  priesthood. 

All  these  measures,  which  were  intended  to  suppress  the  rising 
tide  of  liberal  thought  in  Italy,  were  encouraged  by  Austria.  Every 
duke  and  princeling  took  his  orders  from  the  Austrian  emperor,  who 
promised  each  one  the  retention  of  his  place  and  power.  In  Lom- 
bardy  and  Venetia,  fortresses  were  filled  with  armed  men  who  held 
the  people  in  constant  fear.  As  years  went  on,  these  intolerable  con- 
ditions enraged  the  Italians,  who  had  been  sadly  disappointed  in 
their  hopes  of  a  new  freedom  by  the  unsatisfactory  peace  treaty  made 
at  Villafranca  between  Napoleon  III  and  the  Emperor  of  Austria, 
and  many  of  the  bolder  spirits  joined  secret  revolutionary  societies, 
for  naturally  tyranny  fostered  conspiracy;  and,  beginning  in  1808,  a 
society  calling  itself  the  Carbonari  ("charcoal-burners")  was  holding 
meetings  throughout  Italy  as  champions  of  the  national  Liberal  cause 
against  the  reactionary  governments.  Other  similar  societies  were 
organized,  and  for  five  years  the  wrath  of  the  Italians  was  aug- 


THE    UNIFICATION    OF    ITALY  166 

merited  by  continued  outrages  on  their  rights  and  liberties  and  at  last 
(in  1820)  broke  out  into  open  flame.  In  that  year  the  Spaniards, 
who  in  their  turn  longed  for  greater  political  freedom,  proclaimed 
their  constitution  of  the  Cortes,  which  was  formed  after  the  one 
drawn  up  during  the  French  Revolution.  Spurred  by  this  example 
of  their  neighbors,  the  royal  army  of  Naples  mutinied,  and  this  revolt 
was  followed  by  others  more  and  more  threatening  until,  in  1821,  the 
allied  European  Powers  authorized  Austria  to  crush  the  rising  revolu- 
tion in  Lower  Italy.  Austrian  soldiers  entered  Naples,  and  presently 
there  were  state  trials  and  executions,  and  tyranny  established  a  new 
reign  of  terror  which  succeeded  in  intimidating  the  people  and  hold- 
ing them  in  check  until  1846,  during  which  time  the  Italians  remained 
sullenly  quiet  and  submissive,  while  inwardly  they  raged  at  the  bad 
government  and  tyranny  of  the  aristocrats  and  the  misery  of  the 
people. 

Such  a  state  of  things  could  not  last,  and  meanwhile  the  three 
great  men  whose  glorious  fortune  it  was  to  liberate  their  unfortunate 
compatriots  appeared  in  public  life  and  by  writing  and  oratory,  mili- 
tary genius,  and  masterly  statesmanship  kindled  afresh  the  fires  of 
patriotism  and  hope.  The  first  of  these  three  was  Giuseppe  Maz- 
zini,  sometimes  called  "the  prophet  of  freedom."  He  was  a  young 
Genoese  of  good  family  and  education,  whose  ambition  it  was  to  lead 
a  revolution  that  should  establish  a  permanent  and  indivisible  republic 
not  only  in  Italy  but  including  all  Europe.  To  this  end  he  formed 
an  organization  calling  itself  the  "Young  Italy"  party,  which  de- 
signed to  found  first  a  republic  in  their  own  country  by  the  aid  of  vol- 
unteers drawn  from  all  parts  of  the  Italian  peninsula.  They  thought 
it  necessary,  as  an  aid  in  achieving  independence,  to  obtain  the  cooper- 
ation of  the  Kingdom  of  Sardinia.  Many  books  and  treatises  were 
written  and  many  fiery  speeches  were  made  by  these  young  enthusi- 
asts, all  of  whom  were  inspired  by  the  grand  idea  of  establishing  a 
confederation  of  Italian  powers.  Many  of  these  men  differed 
widely  in  their  ideas  as  to  details,  but  the  three  marked  out  by  des- 
tiny to  give  coherence  and  practical  form  to  the  general  plan,  and 
finally  to  win  the  grand  prize  of  independence,  gradually  made  their 
way  to  the  front. 

The  second  of  the  famous  trio  of  liberators  was  Giuseppe  Gari- 


156 


THE    UNIFICATION    OF    ITALY  157 

baldi,  called  the  "knight-errant  of  the  cause  of  freedom."  Garibaldi 
was  a  man  of  the  common  people,  a  sailor  in  early  youth,  but  a  born 
soldier  and  leader  of  men.  After  an  exciting  and  adventurous  mili- 
tary career  in  young  manhood,  having  always  at  heart  a  desire  to  see 
his  beloved  Italy  free  from  foreign  rulers  and  with  all  her  States 
united,  he  dedicated  his  sword  to  her  service  to  bring  about  this  end, 
and,  after  the  unpopular  peace  treaty  of  Villafranca,  which  boded 
so  ill  for  Italy's  future,  he  organized,  as  commander,  a  band  of  a 
thousand  soldiers  called  "the  chasseurs  (hunters)  of  the  Apennines," 
and  drilled  them  with  the  intention  of  descending  on  the  Papal  States 
and  liberating  Rome  at  least.  At  that  time  this  former  dominion  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church  comprised  the  Provinces  of  the  Romagna, 
the  Marches,  Umbria,  and  the  now  existing  Province  of  Rome. 

The  political  situation  in  Piedmont  prevented  Garibaldi  from 
carrying  out  this  plan,  but  he  enlisted  the  interest  and  sympathy  and 
gained  the  assistance  of  the  third  and  the  most  powerful  of  the  three 
liberators,  the  Count  di  Cavour,  the  eminent  Italian  statesman  and 
benefactor  of  his  country,  the  ultimate  independence  and  unity  of 
which  was  the  dearest  wish  of  his  heart. 

After  the  change  of  government  in  1848  following  the  general 
European  upheaval  called  "the  revolution"  of  that  year,  the  Lib- 
eral party  took  the  reins  of  power  in  Sardinia  and  framed  a  consti- 
tutional form  of  government,  in  the  cabinet  of  which,  under  Mas- 
simo d'Azeglio,  Cavour  became  successively  minister  of  commerce 
(1850),  minister  of  finance  (1851),  and  premier  (1852).  He  de- 
termined to  do  his  utmost  to  bring  about  political  consolidation  in 
Italy,  hence  he  was  ready  to  assist  his  fellow-patriot.  Garibaldi,  in 
1860,  in  forming  an  expedition  to  annex  Sicily,  which  was  then  in  a 
state  of  insurrection.  In  March  of  that  year  Central  Italy  had  been 
annexed  to  Sardinia,  under  King  Victor  Emmanuel  I,  a  measure  ap- 
proved and  assisted  by  Napoleon  III. 

The  insurrection  in  the  Two  Sicilies  against  the  Bourbon  rule  of 
Francis  II  (son  of  Ferdinand  I)  raged  chiefly  in  Naples,  Palermo, 
and  Messina.  The  Two  Sicilies  (consolidated  by  Ferdinand  I  in 
1816)  comprised  the  Island  of  Sicily  and  that  part  of  southern  Italy 
which,  when  considered  separately  from  the  island,  was  called  Sicily 
on  the  hither  side  of  Cape  Faro  (the  northeastern  promontory  of  the 


168 


THE    UNIFICATION    OF    ITALY  159 

island)  or  the  Kingdom  of  Naples.  Over  this  domain  Francis  II 
ruled  with  so  much  severity,  cruelty,  and  cowardly  oppression  that 
his  Sicilian  subjects  were  quite  ready  to  join  Garibaldi  when  he 
landed  on  the  island  in  1860  and  with  his  army  of  a  thousand  men 
defeated  the  Bourbon  army  at  Marsala  on  the  15th  of  that  month. 
After  several  smaller  but  successful  battles  the  Garibaldian  troops 
entered  Palermo,  the  capital,  and  the  gallant  commander  assumed 
the  dictatorship  of  the  island.  Other  brilliant  battles  followed:  on 
July  29  he  won  a  great  victory  over  the  Bourbon  troops;  on  July 
28  the  fortress  of  Messina  fell  into  his  hands;  on  August  25  he 
fought  a  triumphant  battle  at  Reggio  in  Calabria,  and  marched  at 
once  upon  Naples,  where  he  entered  as  conqueror,  proclaimed  him- 
self dictator  of  the  Two  Sicilies,  and  drove  out  the  tyrant  Francis  I, 
who  fle,d  to  Gaeta,  in  the  Province  of  Caserta.  This  splendid  ad- 
vance was  followed  by  the  victory  of  Volturno  in  October,  after  which 
a  universal  vote  was  passed  to  annex  the  Kingdom  of  the  Two  Sicilies 
to  that  part  of  Italy  then  governed  by  King  Victor  Emmanuel. 

The  Bourbon  supporters  of  Francis  regathered  their  military 
forces  at  Gaeta,  forty  miles  northwest  of  Naples,  and  for  several 
months  resisted  the  efforts  of  Victor  Emmanuel's  troops  to  drive 
them  out.  But  Gaeta  fell  at  last  in  February,  1861,  and  Victor 
Emmanuel  was  proclaimed  King  of  Italy  at  Turin.  Europe  now 
gave  an  unspoken  assent  to  Italian  independence,  and  only  Rome 
and  Venetia  remained  to  be  set  free. 

Once  more  Garibaldi,  who  had  sworn  never  to  rest  until  these  two 
States  should  be  liberated,  raised  a  volunteer  army  and  led  it  to  Sicily. 
But  now  Napoleon  III,  who  wished  to  have  the  Papal  States  and  the 
Church  power  at  Rome  preserved,  instructed  Rattazzi,  then  the  Ital- 
ian premier,  to  check  Garibaldi's  further  activities.  The  royal  troops 
met  him  and  his  volunteer  army  on  September  22,  1862,  when,  not  the 
soldiers  of  Italy's  foreign  oppressors  but  the  riflemen  of  the  Italian 
king  shot  him  and  took  him  prisoner.  All  Europe  so  strongly  con- 
demned this  action  and  expressed  so  much  sympathy  for  the  Italian 
people,  who  had  struggled  so  long  for  independence,  that  in  a  con- 
vention held  in  September,  1864,  Napoleon  III  agreed  to  withdraw 
his  French  troops  from  Rome  if  Italy  would  promise  to  respect  the 
temporal  power  of  the  pope.     At  the  same  time  the  city  of  Florence 


FATHER    AND    SON 
The  Kaiser  Embracing  His  Eldest  Son,  the  Crown  Prince 

160 


THE    SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN    WAR  161 

was  named  as  the  capital  of  Italy.  This  move  on  the  part  of 
Napoleon  was  regarded  by  the  Liberals  as  favorable  toward  accom- 
plishing the  annexation  of  Rome  to  Italy,  and  the  war  between  Aus- 
tria and  Prussia  in  1866  gave  them  a  new  opportunity.  They  allied 
themselves  with  Prussia,  and  the  Prussian  victory  of  Koniggratz 
gave  them  one  of  the  chief  objects  they  had  fought  for ;  and  Venetia, 
including  the  Quadrilateral,  was  then  added  to  the  Kingdom  of  Italy. 

According  to  the  terms  of  the  convention  of  1864,  Napoleon  with- 
drew his  troops  from  Rome  in  1866.  The  Liberals  at  once  sprang 
into  action.  Mazzini,  always  an  inspirer,  called  on  the  people  to  seize 
the  prize  then  and  there,  and  Garibaldi  vowed  to  succeed  in  doing  so 
or  die.  But  again  Napoleon  interfered.  Alarmed  for  the  rule  of 
the  pope  and  the  integrity  of  the  Papal  States,  he  reinstated  the  gar- 
rison at  Rome  for  their  protection,  and  there  the  French  troops  re- 
mained until  the  fall  of  the  Second  Empire  in  France  in  1870,  when 
the  agreement  made  between  Napoleon  III  and  Victor  Emmanuel  in 
1862  was  declared  at  an  end.  The  Italian  king  was  released  from  the 
promises  incurred  thereby,  and  on  September  20,  1870,  he  trium- 
phantly entered  the  Eternal  City,  which  was  no  longer  the  capital  of 
the  pope  and  the  Papal  States  but  thenceforth  the  royal  capital  of 
"Italy  free!" 

The  Schleswig-Holstein  War  (1864) — Schleswig-Holstein,  which 
belongs  to  Prussia,  was  formed  out  of  the  once  Danish  duchies  of 
Schleswig,  Holstein,  and  Liineburg.  It  is  about  140  miles  long 
and  varies  in  breadth  from  ninety  miles  in  Holstein  to  thirty-five  miles 
in  the  narrowest  parts  of  Schleswig.  It  is  a  miniature  reproduction 
of  the  great  German  plain:  the  central  part  is  a  continuation  of  the 
vast  Liineburg  Heath ;  the  North  Sea  coast  consists  of  marshes  much 
like  those  of  Holland  and,  like  those  of  Holland,  is  protected  by  arti- 
ficial dikes,  for  much  of  the  land  is  below  the  sea-level;  while  the 
Baltic  Coast  has  steep,  irregular  banks  pierced  by  numerous  long  and 
narrow  fjords,  which,  running  very  deep  into  the  land,  afford  excel- 
lent harbors.  The  islands  of  Alsen  and  Fehmarn  lie  off  this  coast, 
from  which  they  are  separated  by  narrow  channels. 

The  marsh  land  on  the  west  affords  such  excellent  pasture  that 
here  the  special  breed  of  Holstein  cattle  has  been  developed.  But  this 
district  is  more  interesting  to  the  historian,  because  it  was  from  this 


THE    AEROPLANE     IN     WARFARE 


Military  Aeroplane    Reconnoitering 


Photograph  Taken  from  an  Aeroplane  in  Flight 

162 


THE    SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN    WAR  163 

spot  that  the  Jutes  and  Angles  emigrated  across  the  North  Sea  to  the 
southern  shores  of  England  to  found  a  new  race  in  Kent  and  Surrey. 

The  whole  history  of  the  Cimbric  peninsula  is  the  record  of  a 
struggle  between  the  Danes  and  the  Germans,  resulting  ultimately  in 
favor  of  the  Germans. 

In  1027  the  Danish  Knut  (King  Canute,  who  bade  the  waves 
stand  still)  obtained  from  Conrad  (then  emperor)  the  recognition 
of  Schleswig's  independence  of  the  empire  that  spread  over  all 
Europe  at  this  time — the  Holy  Roman  Empire.  Then  the  Eider  be- 
came the  recognized  boundarj^  between  Denmark  and  what  is  now 
Germany. 

Knud  Laward  (1115-1131)  extended  his  sway  and  became  the 
first  ruler  of  Schleswig  to  hold  the  singular  double  relationship  to  the 
King  of  Denmark  and  the  emperor,  which  afterward  became  an  im- 
portant factor  in  the  history  of  the  country.  In  1232  the  King  of 
Denmark  conferred  the  Duchy  of  South  Jutland  (Schleswig)  on  his 
son;  and  thereafter  the  terms  of  this  investment  became  a  fertile  sub- 
ject of  dispute  between  the  dukes  and  the  crown,  the  former  maintain- 
ing that  they  held  their  land  in  hereditary  fief,  while  the  kings  main- 
tained that  the  fief  was  revocable  at  pleasure.  The  dukes,  aided  by 
their  kinsmen,  the  counts  of  Holstein,  succeeded  in  establishing  their 
position.  In  1326  Duke  Valdemar  V  of  Schleswig  was  made  King 
of  Denmark  through  the  influence  of  his  cousin,  Count  Gerhard  of 
Holstein,  upon  whom  he  bestowed  the  Duchy  of  Schleswig.  The  two 
territories  were  united  under  Margaret  of  Denmark  in  1386;  and 
thereafter  the  same  prince  ruled  over  Schleswig  and  Holstein. 

Many  were  the  shiftings,  divisions,  and  reunions  of  the  two  duchies 
of  Schleswig  and  Holstein  because  of  this  complicated  state  of  afl'airs. 
The  duchies  were  inseparably  connected,  but  owed  feudal  allegiance 
to  different  sovereigns.  The  situation  became  more  complicated  be- 
cause of  the  division  of  the  royal  line  into  two  branches — the  royal 
house  of  Denmark  and  that  of  the  dukes  of  Holstein- Gottorp  and  sev- 
eral collateral  branches. 

After  the  Congress  of  Vienna  (1815)  the  King  of  Denmark  was 
declared  a  member  of  the  Germanic  body  on  account  of  Holstein  and 
Lauenburg,  and  was  invested  with  three  votes  in  the  General  Assem- 
bly.    After  the  restoration  of  peace,  however,  Holstein,  which  never 


164  EUROPEAN    WARS    SINCE    1815 

had  been  so  thoroughly  a  part  of  Denmark  as  Schleswig,  grew  restive 
regarding  the  continued  non-convocation  of  its  own  assembhes  The 
troubled  year  of  1830  brought  forth  a  mutual  animosity  between  the 
Danish  and  German  populations,  and  many  long-neglected  local  laws 
and  privileges  were  dug  up  and  their  revival  was  urged.  The  troubles 
culminated  in  the  invasion  by  an  army  from  Prussia  in  1849;  but  the 
Danes  were  victorious  at  the  battle  of  Idsted  (July  23),  and  peace 
was  concluded  with  Prussia  in  1850.  Then  the  duchies  began  to  set- 
tle the  question  of  their  ruler,  and  a  treaty  relative  to  this  succession, 
signed  in  London,  May  8,  1852,  gave  the  crown  of  Frederick  VII  to 
Prince  Christian  of  Gliicksburg ;  but  when  Frederick  VII  died  sud- 
denly in  1863  in  the  castle  of  Gliicksburg  in  Schleswig  (the  seat  of  his 
heir) ,  Prince  Christian  of  Gliicksburg  was  proclaimed  King  of  Den- 
mark as  Christian  IX.  However,  the  young  Duke  of  Augustenburg 
claimed  the  title  as  Frederick  VIII,  although  his  father  had  re- 
nounced his  rights. 

"The  claims  of  the  pretender  were  supported  by  Prussia,  Austria, 
and  other  German  States,  and  before  the  year  was  out  Generals  Gab- 
lenz  and  Wrangel  occupied  the  duchies  in  command  of  Austrian  and 
Prussian  troops,  and  Denmark  was  called  upon  to  give  up  Schleswig- 
Holstein  to  military  occupation  by  Prussia  and  Austria  until  the 
claims  of  the  Duke  of  Augustenburg  were  settled.  In  its  dilemma 
the  Danish  Government  applied  to  England  and  to  France,  and,  re- 
ceiving from  these  Powers  what  it  considered  as  encouragement,  it 
declared  war  against  Germany  early  in  1864.  The  Danes  sent  their 
general,  De  Meza,  with  forty  thousand  men  to  defend  the  Danne- 
werk,  the  ancient  line  of  defenses  stretching  across  the  peninsula  from 
the  North  Sea  to  the  Baltic.  But  the  Dannewerk,  popularly  sup- 
posed to  be  impregnable,  was  first  outflanked  and  then  stormed,  and 
the  Danish  army  fell  back  on  the  heights  of  Dybbol,  near  Flensborg, 
which  was  strongly  fortified,  and  took  up  a  position  behind  it,  across 
the  Little  Belt,  in  the  island  of  Alsen.  It  became  evident  that  Eng- 
land and  France  had  no  intention  of  aiding  Denmark;  but  the  cour- 
age of  the  Danes  was  heroic,  and  they  made  a  splendid  stand  against 
their  powerful  opponents.  General  Gerlach  was  sent  to  replace  the 
unlucky  De  Meza.  The  heights  of  Dybbol  were  harder  to  take  than 
the  Germans  had  supposed,  but  they  fell  at  last,  and  with  them  the 


THE    PRUSSO-AUSTRIAN    WAR  165 

strong  position  of  Sonderburg,  in  the  Island  of  Alsen.  The  Germans 
pushed  northward  until  they  overran  every  part  of  the  mainland,  as 
far  as  the  extreme  north  of  Jutland,  and  it  seemed  as  if  Denmark 
must  cease  to  exist  among  the  nations  of  Europe;  but  the  Danes  at 
last  gave  way,  and  accepted  the  terms  of  the  Peace  of  Vienna,  in 
October,  1864,  by  which  Christian  IX  renounced  all  claim  to  Lauen- 
burg,  Holstein  and  Schleswig,  and  agreed  to  have  no  voice  in  the  final 
disposal  of  those  provinces." 

Prussia  became  enriched,  therefore,  with  the  neck  of  land  that 
separates  the  North  Sea  from  the  Baltic.  The  true  value  of  this 
province  was  shown  when  the  Kaiser  Wilhelm  Canal  was  opened  in 
June,  1895.  This,  also  called  the  North- Sea-Baltic  Canal,  is  sixty- 
one  miles  long  and  extends  from  a  point  near  Brunsbiittel  on  the  Elbe 
to  Holtenau  on  Kiel  Bay,  thus  forming  a  waterway  between  the 
North  Sea  and  the  Baltic.  Kiel  has  been  made  the  chief  naval  station 
of  the  German  Empire  and  the  center  of  trade  with  Denmark  and 
Scandinavia. 

The  Prusso- Austrian  War  (1866) — In  1866  a  war  occurred  which, 
though  it  was  very  short,  was  most  important.  It  reached  its 
climax  in  the  Battle  of  Koniggratz,  or  Sadowa,  decided  the  suprem- 
acy of  Prussia  over  all  the  German  States  and  led  to  the  acquisition 
of  Venetia  by  Italy  and  the  constitutional  independence  of  Hungary. 
At  the  outbreak  of  this  war,  William  I  had  been  on  the  throne  of 
Prussia  five  years.  Bismarck  had  been  his  prime  minister  since  1862. 
A  united  fatherland  was  their  ambition,  and  the  supremacy  of  Prussia 
their  determination. 

At  this  period  Prussia  and  Austria  were  the  two  strongest  Powers 
of  the  German  States.  Austria,  having  inherited  the  torn  purple 
mantle  and  the  broken  scepter  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  had  long 
been  contending  with  Prussia.  As  early  as  1849  efforts  had  been 
made  at  Frankfort  to  form  Germany  into  one  empire,  excluding 
Austria,  and  the  imperial  crown  had  been  offered  to  the  King  of 
Prussia.  To  counteract  this  sentiment,  Austria  had  invited  the  dif- 
ferent States  to  send  representatives  to  Frankfort,  where  she  as- 
sumed the  lead;  and  when  Austria  and  Prussia  brought  all  the 
representatives  of  the  confederacy  to  the  Diet  at  Frankfort,  Aus- 
tria   proposed    that    all    her    provinces,    including    Hungary    and 


166  EUROPEAN    WARS    SINCE    1815 

Lombardo-Venetia,  should  be  absorbed  into  the  German  confed- 
eracy. Great  changes  had  taken  place.  Austria  had  warred  with 
France  and  Sardinia;  the  battles  of  Magenta  (June  4,  1859)  and 
Solferino  (June  24,  1859)  had  been  fought,  and  the  Peace  of  Villa- 
franca  (July  11,  1859)  had  been  signed.  By  this,  Austria,  though 
forced  to  give  up  Lombardy,  retained  Venetia,  which  permitted  her 
to  be  a  member  of  the  new  Italian  confederation. 

Next  followed  the  Schleswig-Holstein  affair,  in  which  Prussia 
persuaded  Austria  to  join  with  her.  The  territory  was  more  con- 
venient for  Prussia  to  govern  than  for  Austria,  and  Austria  was 
willing  to  part  with  it ;  but  they  could  not  come  to  terms.  At  a  con- 
vention held  in  Gastein  (August,  1865)  it  was  agreed  that  Liine- 
burg  was  to  be  Prussia's;  Austria  was  to  have  the  administration  of 
Holstein  and  Prussia  that  of  Schleswig.  Austria  favored  forming 
the  duchies  into  a  separate  State  and  supported  the  claim  of  the 
Duke  of  Augustenburg.  Prussia  opposed  this  and  regarded  the 
public  meetings  that  Austria  had  permitted  in  Holstein  as  a  breach  of 
the  agreement.  Then  Austria  referred  the  matter  to  the  Frankfort 
Diet,  which  decided  in  favor  of  the  duke. 

It  was  evident  that  a  clash  must  come,  sooner  or  later,  to  decide 
which  should  be  the  dominant  Power  in  the  German  States;  and, 
although  both  Prussia  and  Austria  professed  a  desire  for  peace,  both 
began  to  prepare  for  active  war.  On  March  27,  1866,  Prussia  en- 
tered into  an  alliance  with  Victor  Emmanuel,  who  agreed  to  declare 
war  against  Austria  as  soon  as  Prussia  began  hostilities,  and  Prus- 
sia promised  to  gain  Venetia  for  Victor  Emmanuel.  In  May,  Fran- 
cis Joseph  I,  Emperor  of  Austria,  ordered  his  whole  army  to  prepare 
for  war  and  he  concentrated  many  troops  on  the  Bohemian  and  Sile- 
sian  frontiers.  Prussia  called  out  her  full  war  strength,  and  forced 
the  Austrians  out  of  Holstein — fortunately  without  bloodshed!  The 
Prussian  force  was  thoroughly  equipped.  It  consisted  of  three  arm- 
ies: the  first,  commanded  by  Prince  Frederick  Charles,  numbered 
93,000  and  was  destined  for  Saxony  and  Bohemia;  the  second,  un- 
der the  crown  prince  (afterward  the  Emperor  Frederick),  of 
115,000  men,  was  ordered  to  Silesia;  and  the  third,  or  Army  of  the 
Elbe,  commanded  by  General  Herwarth,  numbering  46,000,  was  to 
accompany  the  first  army  on  its  right  flank.     In  addition  to  these 


THE    PRUSSO-AUSTRIAN    WAR  167 

254,000  men,  there  was  a  reserve  corps  of  24,300  at  Berlin.  The 
Austrian  comprised  271,000  men,  for  besides  its  247,000  men  the 
Saxon  army  of  Dresden  numbered  24,000.  General  Benedek 
was  made  commander-in-chief.  He  distributed  his  men  along  the 
frontier,  separating  Moravia  from  Saxony  and  Silesia.  On  June 
16  the  Prussians  entered  Saxony,  and  two  days  later  they  took 
possession  of  Dresden.  On  the  same  day  the  Austrians  entered 
Silesia.  The  three  Prussian  armies  then  advanced  into  Bohemia 
and  on  June  26  and  28  won  victories  over  the  Austrians.  Not- 
withstanding the  difficult  marches  through  the  long  and  narrow 
mountain-passes  of  Bohemia  and  Silesia  and  the  sharp  defense  from 
the  Austrians,  the  Prussians  were  victorious  in  various  minor  battles 
that  took  place.  General  Benedek,  who  had  taken  up  a  strong  posi- 
tion at  Dubenetz  to  oppose  the  crown  prince's  army,  was  now  forced 
to  retreat  toward  Koniggratz,  a  town  in  Bohemia  seventy-nine  miles 
east  of  Prague,  on  the  Elbe.  By  this  time  the  Austrians  had  lost 
nearly  40,000  men.  Both  armies  now  concentrated  and  prepared  for 
a  critical  contest.  The  King  of  Prussia  arrived  on  June  30,  and 
General  Benedek  took  a  strong  position  on  the  heights  between 
Koniggratz  and  Sadowa.  The  Austrians  numbered  about  220,000 
and  the  Prussians  about  240,000. 

At  eight  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  July  3,  the  first  army 
opened  the  attack  on  the  Austrian  center  and  left.  The  morning 
passed  without  any  decisive  advantage  on  either  side;  but  the  arrival 
of  the  Second  Army  and  its  attack  on  the  Austrian  right,  combined 
with  the  renewed  efforts  of  Frederick  Charles's  troops,  resulted  in  an 
overwhelming  defeat  for  the  Austrians  in  the  middle  of  the  after- 
noon. The  Austrians  lost  in  all  about  44,200  men,  of  whom  19,800 
were  prisoners.  The  Prussians  lost  8,794  men  and  359  officers. 
The  Austrians  retreated  to  Zwittan  and  Olmiitz  pursued  by  a  body 
of  Prussians;  but  the  King  of  Prussia  marched  with  100,000  men 
toward  Vienna,  and  reached  Nikolsburg,  July  18. 

Francis  Joseph  was  now  ready  to  make  terms.  He  ceded  Vene- 
tia  to  Italy,  as  well  as  the  fortresses  of  the  Quadrilateral — Peschiera, 
Mantua,  Verona,  and  Legnano — and  was  willing  to  recognize  a  new 
German  Confederation;  he  gave  up  all  claims  to  Schleswig-Holstein 
and  paid  a  heavy  war  indemnity. 


168 


THE    FRANCO-PRUSSIAN    WAR  169 

The  war  of  1866  gave  the  death-blow  to  the  Germanic  Confedera- 
tion of  1815.  In  its  place  appeared  the  North  German  Confedera- 
tion under  the  lead  of  Prussia.  The  transformation  was  completed 
five  years  later,  when,  after  the  successful  war  with  France,  the 
South  German  States  joined  the  union  and  the  King  of  Prussia  be- 
came the  German  Emperor. 

The  Franco-Prussian  War  (1870-71) — After  1866,  when  Prus- 
sia became  the  strongest  power  in  Europe  and  Austria  was  almost  ex- 
cluded from  Germany,  M.  Thiers  predicted  the  coming  German  Em- 
pire. M.  Magne  addressed  Napoleon  III  with  the  bold  words:  "The 
national  feelings  would  be  profoundly  wounded  if  the  final  result 
should  be  that  France  has  only  gained  by  her  intervention  the  estab- 
lishment on  her  two  flanks  of  two  neighbors  of  abnormally  increased 
strength.  Greatness  is,  after  all,  a  relative  affair ;  and  a  country  that 
in  itself  is  no  weaker  than  it  was  may  be  diminished  by  the  accumu- 
lation of  new  forces  around  it."  However,  at  the  beginning  of  July, 
1870,  the  horizon  of  Europe  seemed  without  a  cloud.  On  June  30, 
M.  Emile  Ollivier,  the  prime  minister,  declared  that  "the  peace  of 
Europe  never  rested  on  a  more  secure  basis." 

The  idea  entertained  by  a  great  part  of  the  French  nation  and 
kept  alive  by  poets,  historians,  and  the  press,  of  the  re-conquest  of  the 
left  bank  of  the  Rhine  {les  frontiers  naturelles)  had  a  great  influence 
in  bringing  about  the  Franco-Prussian  war.  Other  contributory 
causes  were:  The  involved  state  of  affairs  occasioned  by  the  govern- 
ment of  Napoleon;  the  rejection  of  the  "compensation"  demanded 
after  1866  from  the  cabinet  of  Berlin  for  the  growth  of  Prussia  in 
extent  and  population;  news  of  the  introduction  of  an  improved 
weapon  for  the  North  German  infantry,  which  threatened  the  supe- 
riority of  the  famous  chassepot  rifle  of  the  French ;  and  last,  but  not 
least,  the  election  of  the  Prince  of  Hohenzollern  to  the  throne  of 
Spain,  which  was  regarded  in  Paris  as  a  Prussian  intrigue  endanger- 
ing the  safety  of  France. 

In  1868  a  revolution  in  Spain  drove  Queen  Isabella  from  the 
throne.  She  took  refuge  in  France,  where  she  became  a  favored  guest 
of  the  Emperor  Napoleon  and  his  Spanish  wife,  Eugenie.  In  1869 
General  Prim,  who  had  become  president  of  the  council  of  ministers 
in  the  Provisional  Government  at  Madrid,  began  to  search  for  an 


170  EUROPEAN    WARS    SINCE    1815 

eligible  candidate  for  the  crown.  His  choice  fell  upon  Prince  Leo- 
pold, of  Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen,  to  whom  he  offered  the  crown 
of  Spain.  Prince  Leopold  informed  the  head  of  the  House  of  Hohen- 
zollern,  William  I  of  Prussia,  who  authorized  him  to  accept  the  offer. 
Fearful  of  this  increase  of  German  power,  the  French  cabinet  decided 
to  intervene,  and  ordered  the  French  ambassador,  Benedetti,  to  see 
William  I,  who  was  in  Ems,  and  request  him  to  forbid  the  Prince  of 
Hohenzollern's  acceptance  of  the  Spanish  crown.  William  referred 
Benedetti  to  the  regular  method  of  communication  through  the  min- 
istry at  Berlin.  Prince  Leopold,  not  wishing  to  offend  France,  with- 
drew; but  the  telegraphic  announcement  of  the  proceeding  was  con- 
sidered insulting  to  France;  and  the  Duke  of  Gramont  thereupon 
made  an  inflammatorj^  speech  in  the  Assembly. 

The  King  of  Prussia  was  next  pressed  to  promise  that  he  never 
would  support  Prince  Leopold  in  the  future  as  a  claimant  for  the 
Spanish  crown,  which  was  equivalent  to  saying  that  war  was  deter- 
mined. The  Liberal  party,  headed  by  Thiers,  opposed  the  war  vehe- 
mently. That  great  statesman  considered  France  "unprepared  for 
war."  The  Imperialists,  on  the  other  hand,  wanted  war.  The  em- 
press thought  if  it  were  successful  the  throne  would  be  secured  to 
her  son,  and  she  would  appear  as  the  champion  of  Roman  Catholic 
principles  in  Europe.  The  Imperialists  pushed  the  matter.  Refusing 
the  good  offices  of  the  other  States  of  Europe,  they  declared  that 
France  was  ready — "ready  to  the  last  gaiter-button."  Germany  was 
more  quiet,  but  very  firm.  Count  Bismarck,  who  was  on  his  estate  at 
Varzin,  went  to  Berlin  July  12,  and  on  the  same  day  General  von 
Moltke  arrived  from  Schweidnitz,  to  meet  William  I,  who  was  en- 
thusiastically received  on  July  15.  That  same  day  mobilization  of 
the  North  German  army  and  the  convention  of  the  Reichstag  were 
ordered.  On  July  19  the  French  declaration  of  war  was  delivered. 
On  July  23  the  North  German  Reichstag  was  opened,  and  it  unani- 
mously voted  a  war  credit.  The  internal  troubles  of  France  were 
great:  there  were  virtually  two  courts — that  of  the  empress,  desir- 
ing war,  and  the  more  patriotic  party,  representing  the  true  interests 
of  the  country,  opposed  to  it.  Paris  became  frenzied  with  excite- 
ment. The  delirious  populace  mobbed  Thiers's  house  and  raised  the 
famous  cry:  "A  Berlin!^' 


THE    FRANCO-PRUSSIAN    WAR  171 

Thus  the  war  began.  The  Empress  Eugenie  was  left  as  regent 
in  Paris,  while  the  emperor  went  to  the  front  with  the  young  prince 
imperial.  The  most  astounding  ignorance  prevailed  in  Paris.  No- 
body knew  the  real  state  of  feeling  in  Germany,  nor  of  her  prepared- 
ness for  war.  The  French  had  been  led  to  believe  that  their  army  was 
in  fine  condition,  whereas  it  was  not  organized,  not  supplied,  and  was 
without  proper  reserve  force.  Worse  still,  the  incapacity  of  the  lead- 
ers was  appalling.  No  one  understood  the  science  of  warfare;  their 
maps  were  inadequate;  and  the  use  of  railways  had  been  improperly 
studied.  The  French  army  was  brave,  however,  and  was  soon 
stretched  in  a  frontier  line  facing  Germany  from  Strassburg  to  Metz. 
Metz  was  selected  as  the  French  headquarters  and  Mainz  (or  May- 
ence)  as  the  German.  France  M^as  now  to  experience  a  great  surprise, 
one  so  great  that  it  forced  upon  her  a  new  military  plan.  She  had 
counted  on  the  neutrality  of  the  South  German  States ;  but  southern 
Germany,  believing  that  the  French  attack  was  part  of  a  plan  to 
conquer  German  territory  and  establish  a  new  Confederation  of  the 
Rhine,  gave  its  support  to  the  North  German  cause.  Louis  II  of 
Bavaria  mobilized  his  army  immediately,  and  his  action  influenced 
Wiirtemburg,  Hesse-Darmstadt,  and  Baden. 

The  French  had  planned  to  divide  the  army  into  three  groups. 
Two  were  to  force  neutrality  upon  the  South  Germans  and  hasten  the 
hoped-for  alliance  between  Austria  and  Italy.  The  other  attack  was 
to  be  made  upon  North  Germany.  Napoleon  III  was  commander- 
in-chief,  with  Marshal  Leboeuf  as  chief  of  the,  general  staff.  The 
change  of  plan  distributed  the  army  as  follows:  First  Corps,  under 
Marshal  MacMahon,  at  Strassburg ;  Second  Corps,  under  General  de 
Failly,  at  Bitsch;  Third  Corps,  under  General  Bazaine,  at  Metz;  and 
Fourth  Corps,  under  General  Ladmirault,  at  Thionville.  The  Corps 
of.  Marshal  Canrobert  at  Chalons,  that  of  General  F.  Douay  at  Bel- 
fort,  and  the  Garde  under  General  Bourbaki  at  Nancy  formed  the 
reserve  of  320,000  men. 

The  German  force  consisted  of  three  armies:  First,  the  right 
wing,  under  Steinmetz,  at  Coblentz,  of  60,000  men;  second,  the  cen- 
ter, under  Prince  Frederick  Charles,  at  Mainz,  of  131,000  men,  with 
a  reserve  of  194,000;  and,  third,  the  left  wing  under  the  Crown  Prince 
Frederick  WiUiam,  at  Mannheim,  of  130,000  men.  The  total  strength 


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THE   FRANCO-PRUSSIAN    WAR  175 

of  the  North  German  army  numbered  750,000  men,  of  whom  198,000 
were  Landwehr;  and  that  of  the  South  German  equaled  100,000. 
King  WilHam  I  of  Prussia  was  commander-in-chief,  and  General  von 
Moltke  was  chief  of  the  general  staff. 

Before  the  Germans  could  take  the  defensive,  the  French  made 
an  attack  on  Saarbriicken  (August  2,  1870),  but  were  forced  to  re- 
treat on  August  6.  On  August  4  an  engagement  followed  at  Weis- 
senburg.  On  August  6  was  fought  the  battle  of  Worth  (Reich- 
shofen),  where  MacMahon,  after  a  most  courageous  defense,  was  de- 
feated by  the  numerically  superior  army  of  the  crown  prince. 

'  The  French  army  now  began  its  retreat  to  the  Moselle.  The 
crown  prince  detached  a  corps  to  attack  Strasburg  and  other  Alsatian 
frontiers,  and  advanced  upon  Nancy,  where  the  French  crushed 
Charles  the  Bold  in  1477,  bringing  the  great  duchy  of  Burgundy 
under  the  crown  of  France. 

One  army  marched  upon  Metz ;  another  army  upon  Pont  a  Mous- 
son,  hoping  to  surround  the  main  body  of  the  French  about  Metz  and 
cut  them  off  from  Paris. 

Bazaine,  upon  whom  Napoleon  had  conferred  the  chief  command, 
decided  to  retreat  to  Chalons-sur-Marne  and  join  what  was  left  of 
MacMahon's  army  and  also  a  newly  formed  army;  but  the  Germans 
attacked  Bazaine  in  the  battle  of  Colombey-Nouilly  and  Vionville. 
Both  suffered  great  losses.  The  French  tried  to  retreat  to  Verdun, 
but  were  prevented.  New  arrivals  strengthened  the  Germans,  and, 
although  the  French  had  acquired  well-chosen  and  fortified  positions, 
they  were  attacked. 

During  the  period  that  led  up  to  Napoleon's  giving  the  command 
of  the  army  to  Bazaine,  the  German  armies  had  been  marching 
through  the  Vosges  and  Lorraine,  their  chiefs  carrying  out  Moltke's 
orders  for  the  invasion  of  France.  The  masses  that  rolled  across  the 
frontier  consisted  of  400,000  men — dense  bodies  of  cavalry  and  artil- 
lery. The  contingent  from  Baden  was  sent  to  besiege  Strassburg, 
while  the  other  three  armies  drew  near  the  Moselle  and  Metz.  The 
German  advance,  on  the  whole,  however,  had  been  slow.  On  August 
18  the  battle  of  Gravelotte  was  fought,  the  most  equally  contested  of 
the  Franco-Prussian  War  and  the  most  sanguinary.  It  is  also  called 
the  battle  of  Saint-Privat.     The  French  resisted  bravely  for  eight 


174  EUROPEAN    WARS    SINCE    1815 

hours,  but  it  resulted  in  Bazaine's  retreat  to  Metz.  A  critic  says: 
"Gravelotte  was  not  a  masterpiece  of  the  art  of  war;  the  victory  was 
not  due  to  the  strategy  of  Moltke ;  it  was  emphaticalh'-  a  soldiers'  bat- 
tle. The  energy,  nevertheless,  of  the  German  chiefs  in  pressing  home 
the  attacks  on  St.  Privat  and  Roncourt  was  admirable,  and  deserves 
the  highest  praise,  and  if  the  effort  cost  thousands  of  gallant  lives  the 
result  more  than  repaid  the  sacrifice.  The  conduct  of  Bazaine  was 
poor  and  unskilful ;  it  is  said  that  he  never  left  a  spot  in  the  vicinity  of 
Metz,  and  if  the  army  of  the  Rhine  fought  extremely  well — the 
battle,  in  fact,  resembles  Malplaquet — we  see  no  traces  of  the  confi- 
dence of  Worth.  By  August  19  the  marshal  had  withdrawn  his  whole 
forces  under  the  ramparts  of  Metz.  In  a  few  daj^s  the  victorious 
Germans  invested  ]\Ietz,  an  operation  which  should  have  been  im- 
possible had  Bazaine  been  a  capable  chief;  and  Europe  at  last  beheld 
the  spectacle  of  an  army  in  possession  of  a  great  fortress  surrender- 
ing to  one  scarcely  superior  in  numbers,  disseminated  upon  a  circle  of 
sixty-odd  miles,  and  divided  by  the  broad  stream  of  the  INIoselle." 

Next  occurred  the  siege  of  Metz  (August  19  to  October  27),  a 
series  of  bloody  battles  that  separated  the  French  force  into  two  parts, 
and  locked  up  their  main  army  in  and  about  a  fortress  that  was  not 
sufficiently  provisioned  for  such  a  siege.  At  this  juncture,  also,  oc- 
curred the  siege  of  Strassburg  (August  14  to  October  27) ,  by  General 
von  Werder. 

MacMahon  evacuated  Chalons  and  attempted  to  liberate  Bazaine, 
choosing  a  circuitous  flank  march  to  the  northeast.  The  Germans, 
getting  news  of  this,  made  a  detour  north.  Bazaine  now  attempted  to 
break  through  the  German  lines  and  join  MacMahon;  but  the  engage- 
ments at  Noisseville  (August  31)  frustrated  the  desperate  venture. 
MacMahon  now  concentrated  his  forces  at  Sedan,  where  the  famous 
battle  was  fought  on  September  1,  1870.  The  Germans  numbered 
250,000,  and  the  French  140,000;  and,  notwithstanding  the  brilliant 
charges  of  the  French  cavalry,  the  Germans  were  victorious.  Taking 
the  battle  as  a  whole,  and  remembering  the  disorganized  state  of  the 
army  before  the  fight  began,  the  presence  of  a  large  number  of  raw 
recruits,  the  overwhelming  superiority  of  the  enemy,  the  crushing 
artillery  fire  coming  from  the  four  points  of  the  compass,  to  which 
no  adequate  reply  was  possible,  there  can  be  no  question  that  the 


THE    FRANCO-PRUSSIAN    WAR  175 

French  stood  their  ground  magnificently .  But,  as  is  usual  with 
troops  when  they  give  way,  there  was  no  restraining  the  French  from 
flight.  Marshal  MacMahon,  wounded  very  early  in  the  day,  was 
compelled  to  leave  the  field.  He  gave  the  command  to  Ducrot.  It 
was  MacMahon  who  chose  the  position  of  Sedan,  thinking  his  task, 
with  100,000  men  against  70,000  Germans,  was  comparatively  easy. 
Sedan  was  one  of  the  worst  positions  ever  selected  for  a  battle.  Two 
of  MacMahon's  corps  faced  westward ;  the  other  two  looked  east.  The 
Meuse  prevented  retreat  southward.  On  the  north,  the  ground  domi- 
nated the  French  position,  and  this  was  quickly  occupied  by  the  Ger- 
man artillery  in  tremendous  force.  The  ground  separating  the  corps 
facing  opposite  ways  was  uneven,  and  was  so  thickly  wooded  that  the 
First  and  Twelfth  Corps  could  not  see  what  was  going  on  in  front  of 
the  Fifth  and  Seventh.  Neither  could  the  Fifth  and  Seventh  Corps 
see  what  was  happening  before  them.  Moreover,  a  very  steep  and 
deep  ravine  divided  the  two  latter  from  the  two  former  corps. 

"Would  you  mind  telling  me,"  asked  General  Lebrun  of  a  colonel 
of  the  Prussian  staff,  the  day  after  Sedan,  "why  throughout  the 
battle  I  saw  so  few  of  your  infantry  in  my  front?"  "The  reason  is 
very  simple,"  he  replied.  "In  our  first  engagements  with  the  French 
army,  we  recognized  the  great  superiority  of  your  infantry  arm,  but 
at  the  same  time  we  discovered  the  great  superiority  of  our  cannon 
over  yours;  therefore,  orders  were  at  once  given  to  all  the  infantry 
commanders  in  the  army  to  keep  as  much  as  possible  out  of  the  fire  of 
your  infantry,  while  we  combated  you  with  our  guns." 

The  battle  began  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning.  A  shell  bursting 
beneath  the  horse  of  Marshal  MacoVlahon  wounded  the  rider,  and 
he  was  carried  off  the  field.  General  Ducrot  succeeded  to  the  post  of 
commander-in-chief  about  half-past  seven  in  the  morning,  and  in- 
stantly resolved  on  retreat  toward  Mezieres,  in  a  northwesterly  direc- 
tion. The  evening  before,  he  was  marching  with  his  corps  toward  an 
elevation  called  the  Calvaire  d'lUy,  the  occupation  of  which  would 
have  allo^^'ed  the  army  to  retire  on  Mezieres,  or  to  occupy  a  somewhat 
favorable  position  if  forced  into  the  fray,  when  JNIarshal  MacMahon 
recalled  him.  It  is  said  that  that  order  of  recall  decided  the  fate  of 
the  French.  The  various  corps  had  barely  been  set  in  motion  west- 
ward when  a  fresh  commander-in-chief  was  put  over  the  men.    Gen- 


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176 


THE   FRANCO-PRUSSIAN   WAR  ITt 

eral  de  WimpfFen,  who  had  arrived  from  Africa  at  the  scene  of  action 
the  day  before,  knew  nothing  of  the  ground  and  nothing  of  the  en- 
emy's movements.  He  suddenly  produced  a  letter  from  the  Minister 
of  War  in  Paris,  investing  him  with  the  supreme  command,  should 
MacMahon  be  disabled.  This  led  a  French  author  to  exclaim:  "Was 
any  army  ever  so  unfortunate  as  ours?  In  the  space  of  about  two 
hours  the  chief  command  was  held  by  these  different  generals,  each 
of  whom  had  a  different  plan."  General  WimpfFen  immediately 
turned  the  army  right-about  and  moved  eastward  on  Carignan  and 
Montmedy.  By  this  time  every  avenue  of  exit  from  the  ground  about 
Sedan  was  closed  by  an  impassable  barrier,  and  after  this  the  battle 
became  little  more  than  a  massacre,  with  the  loss  all  on  the  side  of  the 
French.  The  emperor,  soon  finding  that  resistance  was  useless, 
hoisted  his  flag  of  truce  over  the  fortress  of  Sedan.  On  September  2, 
just  one  month  after  "the  baptism  of  fire"  of  the  prince  imperial — as 
Napoleon  had  telegraphed  to  Eugenie  after  Saarbriick — Napoleon 
handed  his  sword  to  William  I.  The  emperor  was  sent  to  Wilhelms- 
hohe  until  the  end  of  the  war  (March,  1871),  when  he  joined  the 
empress  and  his  son  at  Camden  House,  Chiselhurst,  Kent,  England. 
When  he  died  there,  in  1873,  his  last  words,  spoken  to  his  physician, 
were:  Etiez-vous  a  Sedan?  ("Were  you  at  Sedan?")  Two  weeks 
after  the  fall  of  Sedan,  a  curious  visitor  wrote:  "Libramont,  a  mis- 
erable little  station  on  the  Luxemburg  line,  has  been  suddenly  raised 
to  much  importance;  for  since  the  railway  has  been  stopped,  which 
runs  directly  to  Sedan,  it  is  the  nearest  way  of  getting  there.  Wag- 
ons, dirty  cabs,  an  omnibus,  ambulance,  carts,  and  every  species  of 
vehicle  were  assembled,  waiting  for  hire,  and  most  of  them  were  em- 
ployed. About  a  mile  beyond  the  station,  thirty-one  wagons  and  am- 
bulance carts,  filled  with  wounded,  passed  on  their  way  to  the  station, 
some  without  any  attendant  but  the  driver  and  postilions  and  tortured 
by  every  jolt  of  the  clumsy  carriages,  with  their  faces  exposed  to  the 
rays  of  the  noonday  sun.  A  drive  of  about  sixteen  miles  along  the 
straight,  dreary  road,  by  which  the  Emperor  Napoleon  was  conveyed 
to  Libramont  on  his  way  to  Germany,  brings  us  to  Bouillon,  once  cele- 
brated as  the  birthplace  of  the  famous  crusader,  Godfrey,  but  under 
present  circumstances  the  very  dirtiest  of  country  towns  and  over- 
flowing with  Belgian  soldiers,  French  refugees,  and  tourists.    Ambu- 


178  EUROPEAN    WARS    SINCE    1815 

lance  wagons,  carts  loaded  with  bread  and  hay,  a  perpetual  succession 
of  rickety  drags,  and  pedestrians,  passed  continually  day  and  night 
down  the  little  narrow  stone-paved  streets,  where  some  were  pajang 
five  and  ten  francs  each  for  a  share  in  a  haj^-loft,  and  others,  for  even 
such  a  want  of  accommodation,  were  compelled  to  walk  about  all 
night.  Many  of  the  richer  families  from  Sedan  had  retired  there  and 
were  living  most  uncomfortably  crowded,  while  their  own  homes  were 
being  used  as  hospitals.  The  castle  of  Bouillon  stands  in  a  com- 
manding situation  on  a  hill  overlooking  the  town,  and  a  church,  as 
plain  externally  as  a  Scotch  kirk,  lies  immediately  below  it.  The  river 
Meuse,  winding  between  high  banks,  divides  the  principal  street,  and 
is  crossed*  by  an  old  stone  bridge.  The  bright  green  woods  around 
have  been  the  resort  of  wolves  since  the  beginning  of  the  campaign, 
frightened  away  from  the  northeast  of  France. 

"The  French  frontier  was  crossed  without  any  of  the  usual  for- 
malities; for  there  are  no  custom-house  officers  to  keep  it  now;  and 
half  a  mile  beyond,  knapsacks,  broken  weapons,  and  cartouche-boxes 
were  to  be  seen  scattered  on  each  side  of  the  road,  and  graves  marked 
by  two  sticks  tied  together  with  grass  in  the  form  of  a  cross.  Every 
cottage  in  the  village  close  round  Sedan  had  hung  out  a  Red  Cross 
flag  to  show  that  a  wounded  man  was  being  tended  in  it;  and  near 
the  walls  the  remains  of  the  fight  were  spread  over  the  gardens  and 
the  fields — Prussian  helmets,  knapsacks,  and  bayonet-sheaths  being 
most  numerous,  with  two  or  three  horses  still  left  unburied.  We  met 
many  of  the  inhabitants  of  Bazeilles  with  the  property  they  had  been 
able  to  rescue  from  the  fire  piled  on  their  backs,  or  else  seated  on  top  of 
it  in  little  carts.  Some  of  them  have  also  encamped  in  huts  like  Indian 
wigwams  on  the  slope  of  a  neighboring  hill. 

"Sedan  lies  quite  in  a  hollow,  from  which  you  have  to  ascend  every 
way  out  of  the  town.  It  is  surrounded  by  high  fortifications  and  a 
moat  formed  from  the  river  Meuse,  which  runs  through  the  valley. 
A  Prussian  sentinel  carrying  a  needle-gun  was  perched  on  the  top  of 
the  fortification  overlooking  the  Bouillon  gate,  which  we  entered 
over  a  drawbridge,  conducting  us  into  a  stone-paved  street.  The 
houses  are  as  high  as  is  usual  in  old  French  towns,  and  rather  narrow. 
Several  had  been  destroyed  by  the  bombardment,  but  these  were  at 
the  back  and  not  visible  to  the  street.    Some  of  the  French  wounded 


THE    FRANCO-PRUSSIAN    WAR  179 

prisoners  who  were  well  enough  to  leave  the  hospital  were  sitting  on 
the  doorsteps  as  we  entered,  and  there  were  numbers  of  Prussian  sol- 
diers walking  about. 

"At  the  time  of  the  battle  the  district  was  soaked  with  rain,  so  that 
the  fire  did  not  extend  to  the  trees  or  vegetation ;  and  when  I  saw  the 
heap  of  blackened  ruins  which  represents  Bazeilles,  the  apple  and 
damson  trees  at  the  backs  of  the  houses  were  uninjured  and  were  cov- 
ered with  fruit. 

"The  most  unprofessional  eye  must  marvel  at  the  fortifications  of 
Sedan  being  preserved  since  modern  artillery  was  introduced.  On 
one  side  the  hill  rises  as  high  as  the  walls,  and  before  the  bombard- 
ment, after  the  defeat  at  Carignan,  the  French  held  this  hill,  but  they 
abandoned  it  to  retreat  into  the  town ;  upon  which  it  was  immediately 
occupied  by  the  Prussians,  who  dragged  their  guns  up  to  the  top  and 
at  once  commanded  the  entire  place.  A  French  eye-witness  who  had 
nobly  assisted  the  wounded  in  an  open  square  in  front  of  her  hous.e 
while  the  bombardment  was  at  its  height  and  the  soldiers  were  being 
struck  down  by  the  shot  and  shell  all  round,  described  the  cannonading 
as  being  like  two  tremendous  thunderstorms  going  on  at  once.  She 
saw  the  emperor  ride  out  to  the  last  battle,  but  he  returned  two  hours 
after  the  defeat.  I  was  assured  that  more  than  one  of  the  generals 
could  not  leave  his  bed  early  enough  in  the  morning  to  take  any  part 
in  it,  but  that,  while  all  the  peaceful  citizens  had  long  been  roused  by 
the  noise  of  the  guns,  they  were  still  sleeping  and  their  regiments  were 
led  into  action  by  the  subalterns.  The  first  sign  of  the  defeat  of  the 
French  army  was  the  wounded,  riderless  horses  that  rushed  back  into 
the  town — first  a  few,  then  increasing  chasseurs,  lancers,  all  mingling 
together ;  horses  bearing  the  trappings  of  every  regiment  in  the  serv- 
ice, yet  still  no  riders,  and  their  flanks  stained  with  blood.  It  was  long 
before  the  citizens  would  believe  but  that  the  French  had  gained  the 
victory.  Surely  it  was  impossible  that  any  nation  in  the  world  could 
defeat  80,000  Frenchmen — till  at  last  the  fact  began  to  dawn  upon 
them,  and  was  confirmed  by  the  appearance  of  the  disordered  fugi- 
tives." 

The  French  lost  at  Sedan  39  generals,  2,300  officers,  and  84,000 
men,  while  10,000  escaped  into  Belgium.  With  the  surrender  of 
Sedan  ends  the  first  half  of  the  story  of  the  Franco-Prussian  War. 


LI  a 

tn  « 

(0  o 

m  E 


18Q. 


THE    FRANCO-PRUSSIAN    WAR  181 

The  unfortunate  news  was  concealed  in  Paris ;  but  as  soon  as  it  became 
known,  the  empire  fell  and  the  Empress  Eugenie  fled  to  England. 

During  this  campaign  numbers  of  French  peasants  took  up  arms 
and  formed  irregular  corps  called  francs-tireurs.  The  Germans  re- 
fused to  recognize  them  as  forming  part  of  the  regular  French  force, 
and  when  members  of  this  corps  were  captured  they  were  immediately- 
shot.  After  the  capitulation  of  Metz  (October  27,  1870),  and  de- 
fensive operations  were  undertaken  by  Gambetta,  the  francs-tireurs 
were  organized,  and  they  proved  a  most  efficient  addition  to  the  French 
army. 

One  town  after  another  now  fell — Nancy,  Strassburg,  Metz, 
Rheims,  Dijon,  Laon,  Soissons,  Orleans,  and  Rouen.  The  new  min- 
ister of  war,  Montauban  Palikao,  formed  a  new  ministry  composed 
of  ultra-Bonapartists ;  and  the  disastrous  war  news  was  doctored  be- 
fore it  reached  the  public.  It  was  not  long  before  Paris  was  in  a 
state  of  siege. 

In  the  meantime,  great  changes  had  taken  place  in  Europe.  The 
temporal  rule  of  the  papacy  came  to  an  end  in  September,  1870, 
falling  with  the  Imperial  cause  of  France,  which  was  its  chief  support. 
Victor  Emmanuel,  too,  was  now  at  Rome.  At  Tours,  Gambetta  was 
trying  his  best  to  raise  fresh  armies  for  France;  and,  now  that  im- 
perialism had  fallen.  Garibaldi  had  placed  his  sword  at  the  disposal  of 
the  struggling  republic. 

In  transforming  Paris  by  widening  and  straightening  the  streets, 
Napoleon  III  and  Baron  Haussmann  had  made  external  attack  much 
easier  than  it  had  been  in  the  days  of  old  Paris.  Consequently,  the 
new  and  beautiful  city  on  the  Seine  was  not  prepared  to  defend  her- 
self against  the  approaching  Prussians.  Gradually  the  Germans 
closed  in  on  Paris.  No  resistance  was  possible,  because  the  French 
army  was  in  Metz,  or  imprisoned  in  Sedan.  The  first  siege  of  Paris 
began  on  September  19,  1870,  with  the  occupation  of  the  Germans  on 
the  heights  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river  and  the  capture  of  the  unfin- 
ished redoubt  of  Chatillon.  Two  days  later  the  investment  was  com- 
plete. 

The  Third  Republic  had  been  proclaimed  under  the  advice  of  M. 
Thiers,  with  a  government  of  national  defense,  the  chief  members  of 
which  were  Jules  Favre,  Jules  Simon,  and  Leon  Gambetta.    General 


182  EUROPEAN    WARS    SINCE    1815 

Trochu,  its  military  head  and  governor  of  the  city,  had  under  his  com- 
mand 400,000  men — a  force  that  should  have  been  able  to  hold  out 
against  the  240,000  German  besiegers.  But  the  soldiers  were  raw, 
and  the  officers  inexperienced,  and  the  National  Guard  excited  the 
people  instead  of  preserving  order.  On  October  31  open  revolt  broke 
out.  The  besieged  became  demoralized,  and  the  Prussians  made  de- 
mands. They  soon  captured  all  the  best  positions  on  both  sides  of 
the  Seine,  and  held  the  armies  in  the  southern  and  western  provinces 
that  were  hoping  to  cooperate  with  the  troubled  Parisians.  The  sever- 
ity of  the  winter  added  to  the  general  distress.  The  empire,  having 
so  confidently  expected  victory,  had  not  provisioned  Paris;  and  a 
great  influx  of  refugees  added  to  the  distress  of  the  citizens  already 
menaced  with  famine.  A  sortie  undertaken  by  the  French  ended  in 
failure ;  a  second  sortie  toward  the  north,  in  December,  was  repulsed, 
and  the  besieged  lost  the  key  to  the  positions  on  this  side.  IMuch 
damage  was  done  to  the  forts  on  the  left  of  the  Seine.  A  third  and 
last  sortie  was  attempted  in  January,  1871,  which  resulted  in  a  hope- 
less retreat.  An  armistice  was  signed  on  January  27,  and  Paris  capit- 
ulated on  the  following  day.  With  great  difficulty  the  city  was  sup- 
plied with  provisions.  Foreign  nations  contributed  generously  to  the 
sufferers;  but  famine  claimed  many  victims. 

One  of  the  strange  features  of  the  siege  was  the  fact  that  Paris 
kept  up  almost  daily  communications  on  a  large  scale  with  other  parts 
of  Europe.  Nadar,  a  photographer  and  aeronautist,  inaugurated  a 
system  of  postal  balloons.  The  first  one,  named  "Neptune,"  was 
despatched  on  September  23,  from  the  Place  de  Saint-Pierre  at  INIont- 
martre.  Nadar  became  the  hero  of  the  hour,  and  his  name,  in  enor- 
mous letters,  decorated  his  house  conspicuously.  It  was  but  a  step  to 
balloons  for  passengers,  for  which  passage  of  even  a  short  distance 
cost  two  thousand  francs.  Carrier  pigeons  were  taken  on  each  trip 
for  the  purpose  of  announcing  the  safe  arrival  of  the  balloon.  Next 
it  was  decided  to  use  them  to  carry  private  messages,  and  a  regular 
"pigeon-post"  was  established.  The  "Lafayette"  took  out  100,000 
letters  and  thirty  pigeons.  Other  balloons  also  made  regular  trips. 
The  most  noteworthy  of  the  passenger  balloons  was  the  "Armand- 
Barbes."  In  addition  to  the  aeronauts,  the  car  contained  two  bags  of 
letters,  carrier-pigeons,  and  several  passengers,  among  whom  was  M. 


THE    FRANCO-PRUSSIAN    WAR  183 

Gambetta,  destined  soon  to  inspire  all  with  his  fiery  zeal  as  dictator  of 
the  French  Republic. 

France  soon  busied  herself  with  elections  for  a  National  Assembly 
to  be  held  in  Bordeaux  to  arrange  terms  of  peace.  The  body  was 
largely  Republican.  M.  Thiers  was  the  chief  of  the  executive  power, 
with  M.  Grevy  as  President  of  the  Assembly.  It  was  decided  for  this 
Assembly  to  hold  its  sittings  in  Versailles. 

The  "Red  Republicans"  now  asserted  themselves;  and  on  March  18 
the  Commune,  consisting  largely  of  artisans,  opposed  the  Versailles 
Assembly. 

In  March,  1871,  the  Germans  entered  Paris.  This  event  may  be 
said  to  mark  the  close  of  the  siege,  and  at  the  same  time  the  beginning 
of  the  Commune.  Taking  advantage  of  the  general  confusion  and 
the  inefficiency  of  the  regular  army,  the  National  Guard  carried  guns 
to  the  heights  of  Montmartre  and  Belleville.  President  Thiers,  seeing 
the  danger,  attempted  to  remove  the  ordnance  on  March  18,  but  imme- 
diately an  insurrection  broke  out,  and  during  the  outrages  two 
generals,  Lecomte  and  Thomas,  were  murdered.  Then  ensued  a  con- 
flict between  the  Government  and  the  National  Guard.  The  Govern- 
ment held  Mont  Valerien.  The  insurgents  made  several  unsuccessful 
sorties  in  the  direction  of  Versailles,  and  lost  two  of  their  leaders.  Gen- 
erals Flourens  and  David.  The  Versailles  Assembly  instructed  Mar- 
shal Mac]VIahon  to  reduce  the  insurgents  to  order.  Then  followed  the 
second  siege  of  Paris,  which  lasted  from  April  2  to  May  21,  1871. 

On  Sunday,  May  21,  the  government  forces  under  Marshal  Mac- 
Mahon,  having  captured  the  forts  on  the  right  side  of  the  river,  made 
their  way  within  the  walls.  But  they  had  to  fight  from  barricade  to 
barricade  before  they  could  take  the  city.  Belleville,  the  special  Red 
Republican  quarter,  was  not  assaulted  and  taken  until  Friday.  Dur- 
ing the  week  the  Communists  committed  the  most  horrible  excesses. 
Archbishop  Darboy,  President  Bonjeau,  priests,  magistrates,  jour- 
nalists, and  private  citizens,  who  had  been  seized  as  hostages,  were  shot 
in  the  prisons.  A  dreadful  scheme  of  destruction  was  carried  on  by 
men  and  women  with  petroleum,  from  which  they  were  called  petro- 
leurs  and  petroleuses. 

Flames  soon  spread  over  Paris.  The  Hotel  de  Ville,  the  Palais  de 
Justice,  the  Tuileries,  the  Ministry  of  Finance,  the  Palaces  of  the  Le- 


MlBi 


184 


THE    RUSSO-TURKISH    WAR  185 

gion  of  Honor  and  of  the  Council  of  State,  and  part  of  the  Rivoli 
were  ravaged.  Barrels  of  gunpowder  were  placed  in  Notre-Dame 
and  the  Pantheon,  ready  to  blow  up  those  buildings.  On  May  28,  the 
national  troops  gained  a  victory  in  the  neighborhood  of  La  Roquette 
and  Pere-la-Chaise,  and  many  insurgents  were  captured  and  shot. 
Others  were  condemned  to  death,  or  penal  servitude,  or  transported  to 
the  colonies. 

During  the  siege,  Ludwig  II,  King  of  Bavaria,  proposed  that  the 
President  of  the  German  Confederation  should  receive  the  title  of 
Emperor  of  Germany.  William  agreed,  and  in  the  Hall  of  Mirrors, 
Versailles,  in  the  presence  of  a  brilliant  company  that  contrasted 
strongly  with  the  distress  of  the  people  outside,  the  King  of  Prussia 
was  j)i'oclaimed  "William  I,  King  of  Prussia  and  Emperor  of  Ger- 
many." The  sovereign  is  now  known  as  "the  German  Emperor"  and 
the  confederated  States  as  "the  German  Empire." 

Bismarck's  work  was  finished.  He  had  severed  the  duchies  from 
Denmark ;  he  had  thrown  Austria  out  of  Germany,  and  placed  Prus- 
sia 9,t  the  head  of  the  State ;  he  had  changed  the  Northern  Confedera- 
tion into  the  German  Confederation  with  the  King  of  Prussia  as 
President;  and  now,  by  means  of  the  Franco-Prussian  War,  he  had 
placed  Germany  among  /the  first  great  Powers  of  Europe.  The 
Treaty  of  Frankfort  was  signed  on  May  10,  1871,  by  which  Alsace 
and  Lorraine  were  ceded  back  to  Germany,  while  Belf  ort  was  restored 
to  France.  A  money  indemnity  of  $1,000,000,000  in  gold  was  paid 
to  Germany  for  the  costs  of  the  war. 

The  Russo-Turkish  War  (1877-78).— When  Russia,  in  1877, 
once  more  took  up  arms  against  Turkey,  it  was  to  renew  a  conflict 
rooted  in  Turkish  misrule  during  four  centuries,  and  it  was  linked 
with  events  leading  to  the  war  of  1914. 

Early  in  the  fourteenth  century  the  Ottoman  Turks  began  an 
invasion  of  southeastern  Europe  that  gradually  gained  in  strength 
until  it  became  a  menace  to  the  nations  north  of  the  Danube.  Re- 
cruiting their  ranks  from  conquered  Christian  States,  whose  strongest 
children  were  brought  up  as  soldiers  called  Janissaries,  they  subdued 
the  Slavs  south  of  the  Balkans,  overran  Greece,  occupied  Syria,  Ara- 
bia, and  Egypt,  invaded  Hungary,  and  even  laid  siege  to  Vienna.  In 
1453  they  took  possession  of  Constantinople,  and  the  Church  of  Saint 


186 


THE    RUSSO-TURKISH    WAR  187 

Sophia  was  turned  into  a  Mohammedan  mosque.  The  tide  turned 
with  the  rise  of  Russia  in  the  reign  of  Catherine  the  Great.  About 
the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  Russians  wrested  the  Crimea 
from  the  Turks,  gaining  access  to  the  Black  Sea,  pushed  the  Turkish 
frontier  back  to  the  Dniester,  and  established  that  right  to  protect  the 
sultan's  Christian  subjects  which  has  changed  the  whole  complexion 
of  affairs  in  the  East.  In  1812,  Russia,  backed  by  Napoleon,  took 
over  Bessarabia,  on  the  Black  Sea.  In  1828  Nicholas  I,  for  causes 
arising  from  the  sultan's  wrath  following  the  battle  of  Navarino,  de- 
clared war  against  the  Porte,  crossed  the  Balkans,  and  forced  Moham- 
med II  to  sign  the  Treaty  of  Adrianople,  September  14,  1829. 

Greece  was  now  a  kingdom;  Moldavia  and  Wallachia  (the  Ru- 
mania of  to-day)  were  virtually  independent,  with  Russia  as  a  kind 
of  overlord.  Finally,  Servia,  which  had  rebelled  against  Ottoman 
oppression  in  1804,  achieved  autonomy  in  1830,  with  Milosch  Obreno- 
vitch  as  hereditary  prince  of  the  Servians.  Thus  the  way  was  pre- 
pared for  what  came  to  pass  forty-five  years  later — the  reopening  of 
the  Eastern  question  and  the  beginning  of  real  independence  in  the 
blood-stained  Balkan  States. 

The  history  of  these  States,  from  the  time  they  fell  under  the  do- 
minion of  the  Turk,  is  a  continuous  chronicle  of  murder  and  savage 
oppression.  At  last,  in  1876,  the  burden  became  intolerable.  The 
peasants  of  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina  rose  against  the  tyrant,  and  the 
Christian  Bulgars,  rallying  to  the  common  cause,  slew  some  of  the 
Turkish  officials.  Retaliation  by  the  Turks  took  the  form  of  mas- 
sacres that  in  some  regions  bordered  on  annihilation.  Southeastern 
Europe  supped  full  with  horror,  while  modern  civilization  looked  on 
aghast.  With  sword  and  torch  the  barbarous  Bashi-Bazouks  ravaged 
the  villages  of  the  Moritza  valley,  burning  and  murdering  until  sixty- 
five  villages,  with  most  of  their  population,  had  been  destroyed.  Al- 
ready the  peasants  had  suffered  repeated  tortures.  Tithe-collectors 
who  could  not  collect  taxes  in  advance  had  bound  naked  men  to  trees, 
smeared  their  skins  with  honey,  and  left  them  to  the  ants.  In  freez- 
ing weather,  they  let  the  frost  do  its  work.  Sometimes  the  peasants 
were  driven  into  trees,  or  hiding-places,  and  were  smoked  out  with 
green  wood,  as  hunters  smoke  out  wild  animals.  The  actual  massa- 
cres seemed  hardly  worse.     At  Batak,  Achmet  Aga  swore  by  the 


188 


THE   RUSSO-TURKISH   WAR  189 

beard  of  the  prophet  that  he  would  not  harm  the  villages  who  yielded 
up  their  arms.  The  arms  were  surrendered,  and  the  Turks  took  all 
their  money,  too.  Then  they  slew  them — men,  women,  and  children — 
to  the  number  of  five  thousand. 

An  English  government  agent  sent  a  report  of  this  affair  to  his 
home  authorities,  telling  how  a  church  filled  with  refugees  had 
been  fired  by  Bashi-Bazouks,  and  the  people  therein  extermin- 
ated. This,  and  similar  accounts,  sent  a  sTittdder  throughout  Eng- 
land, eliciting  from  Gladstone  a  celebrated  pamphlet  in  which  he  de- 
nounced "the  unspeakable  Turk,"  and  called  for  his  expulsion  from 
Europe,  "bag  and  baggage."  But  Disraeli  was  in  power;  and,  as  he 
was  a  statesman  who  feared  Russia  more  than  he  loved  the  Slav,  Great 
Britain  did  nothing  at  all. 

Alexander  II,  Emperor  of  Russia,  for  a  time  entertained  hopes 
that  the  other  Powers  would  join  with  him  in  restraining  the  Turk. 
But  when  he  saw  that  England  set  trade  above  sentiment  and  public 
opinion  he  resolved  to  act  for  himself  and  go  to  the  aid  of  Russia's 
coreligionists  in  the  Balkans.  War  was  declared  upon  Turkey,  April 
24,  1877. 

Rumania,  which  had  realized  its  national  ambitions,  and  was  mak- 
ing good  progress  under  its  chosen  ruler,  Charles  I,  joined  hands  with 
Russia  and  proclaimed  its  own  complete  independence.  Russia  also 
had  as  allies  Servia  and  the  petty  principality  of  Montenegro. 

Bulgaria  became  the  seat  of  war,  and  Adrianople  beckoned  from 
beyond  the  Balkans  to  Russian  ambition.  Plevna  barred  the  way. 
This  town  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Turks,  under  Osman  Pasha,  who 
had  strengthened  his  position  and  was  prepared  to  make  a  stubborn 
resistance.  If  the  Russians  could  not  take  Plevna,  they  could  not 
pass  beyond  the  Balkans ;  therefore  they  assembled  an  army  thrice  the 
size  of  the  defenders'  army,  and  pushed  forward.  Three  times  Os- 
man Pasha  drove  them  back  with  great  losses.  In  this  emergency 
they  had  recourse  to  Todleben,  the  brilliant  engineer  who  had  proved 
himself  the  genius  of  Sebastopol.  Under  his  direction  Plevna  was 
besieged  and  starved  into  surrender.  On  December  10  the  Crescent 
was  hauled  down,  and  the  Russian  army  of  120,000  took  possession. 

With  the  fall  of  Plevna,  nothing  but  snow  could  block  the  Balkan 
passes  to  the  victorious  army.     On  January  20, 1878,  the  Russians  en- 


190 


THE   GRECO-TURKISH    WAR  191 

tered  Adrianople,  and  the  dominion  of  the  Turks  in  Europe  was  tem- 
porarily at  an  end. 

England,  having  looked  on,  now  came  forward  to  protest.  The 
Russians  were  getting  too  near  Constantinople,  and  the  nightmare  of 
India  in  the  claws  of  the  Bear  once  more  began  to  haunt  the  English 
brain.  The  Treaty  of  San  Stefano  was  signed,  under  the  terms  of 
which — as  there  was  no  Metternich  to  intervene — the  sultan  acknowl- 
edged the  complete  independence  of  Servia,  Montenegro,  and  Ru- 
mania, and  not  only  granted  autonomy  to  Bulgaria,  but  permitted  an 
extension  of  its  boundaries  that  all  but  expelled  the  Turk  from 
Europe. 

But  Rumania,  Servia,  and  Greece  were  all  opposed  to  this  agree- 
ment, and  so,  of  course,  was  Great  Britain.  The  Powers  then  ar- 
ranged a  general  European  Congress  at  Berlin,  with  Bismarck  in  the 
chair,  and  proceeded  to  modify  the  treaty.  They  did  not  tamper  with 
the  independence  of  the  three  Balkan  States,  but  Bulgaria,  as  defined 
by  the  treaty,  was  cut  into  three  parts,  and  Rumania  was  obliged  to 
cede  Bessarabia  to  Russia.  Bulgaria's  boundaries  were  confined  to  a 
region  between  the  Danube  and  the  Balkans,  and,  though  granted 
autonomy,  the  State  was  still,  in  a  measure,  under  Turkish  control. 
Macedonia  was  to  remain  a  part  of  Turkey,  and  Eastern  Rumania 
became  a  Turkish  province  with  a  Christian  Governor- General. 

Bosnia  and  Herzegovina  were  taken  under  the  "protection"  of 
Austria.  The  Powers  could  not,  of  course,  foresee  what  would  hap- 
pen in  1914. 

The  Greco-Turkish  War  (1897) — At  the  close  of  the  Greek  War 
for  Independence  in  1821,  the  government  of  Greece  was  placed  in 
the  hands  of  Count  Capodistrias  as  temporary  president,  pending  the 
agreement  of  the  protecting  Powers  as  to  who  should  be  permanent 
rulers  of  the  new  independent  kingdom. 

The  throne  of  Greece  was  offered  first  to  Prince  John  of  Saxony, 
but  he  declined  the  honor.  Prince  Leopold  of  Saxe-Coburg  was  the 
next  choice,  but  he,  too,  declined.  In  October,  1831,  the  temporary 
president  was  assassinated,  which  event  hastened  the  action  of  the 
Powers  in  choosing  Prince  Otho,  second  son  of  Louis,  King  of  Ba- 
varia. 

Thus  Greece  virtually  fell  under  government  by  Bavaria,  since  no 


HAVOC    WROUGHT    BY    2EPPELIN    BOMBS    IN    ANTWERP 


Wall  of  House  Ten  Yards  from  Where   Bomb  Struck  Pierced  by  Fragments 


I 


The  Men  Are  Standing  in  the  Hole  Made  by  the  Exploding   Bomb 

192 


THE    RUSSO-TURKISH    WAR  193 

constitution  was  made  for  the  new  kingdom.  This  state  of  things  was 
not  to  the  hking  of  the  Greeks,  who,  after  expressing  discontent  and 
breaking  out  into  minor  insurrections,  at  last,  at  the  end  of  ten  years, 
manifested  their  desire  for  a  constitution  in  a  way  not  to  be  ignored. 
One  night  in  September,  1843,  the  royal  palace  was  surrounded  by 
the  whole  garrison  of  Athens  and  a  mob  of  excited  citizens,  who  de- 
manded that  the  king  should  heed  their  wishes.  The  heads  of  the 
military  forces  informed  King  Otho  that  the  people  were  determined 
to  have  a  constitution  and  that  they  intended  to  remain  where  they 
were  until  they  should  obtain  a  promise  of  one.  The  king  yielded;  a 
national  assembly  was  called  to  frame  a  constitution,  and  thus  in  one 
night  Greece  became  a  constitutional  kingdom,  the  important  docu- 
ment itself  being  signed  in  March,  1844.  Otho's  reign  continued  for 
eighteen  years  longer,  but  many  complaints  were  made  of  his  gov- 
ernment and  several  conspiracies  were  hatched  against  him.  At  last, 
in  October,  1862,  during  the  brief  absence  of  Otho  and  his  queen,  on 
a  pleasure  trip  aboard  the  royal  yacht,  the  leaders  of  Greek  political 
affairs  decided  to  make  another  change  in  rulers.  On  attempting  to 
land  from  his  excursion,  the  king  met  a  deputation  who  informed  him 
that  the  throne  of  Greece  had  been  declared  vacant  and  that  he  and 
his  queen  would  not  only  not  be  allowed  to  return  to  the  palace  but 
that  they  could  not  even  come  ashore.  The  deposed  and  discomfited 
royal  pair  were  compelled  to  hail  a  passing  British  man-o'-war,  which 
took  them  to  Venice.  From  Venice  they  made  their  way  to  Bavaria, 
Otho's  native  country,  where  they  dwelt  thereafter  in  comparative 
obscurity. 

But  it  was  necessary  that  the  affairs  of  Greece  should  be  kept  in 
order,  and  another  king  must  be  had.  A  protocol  of  three  Powers 
offered  the  crown  to  Prince  George  of  Denmark,  second  son  of  King 
Christian  IX  and  younger  brother  of  Alexandra,  the  Princess  of 
Wales,  now  the  Dowager  Queen  of  England  and  widow  of  Edward 
VII.  Prince  George  accepted  the  crown  on  the  condition  that  the 
Ionian  Isles — since  1814  a  small,  nominal  republic  under  the  protec- 
tion of  Great  Britain — should  be  annexed  to  Greece  proper.  This 
condition  was  agreed  on,  and  in  1863  King  George  I  entered  Athens 
and  mounted  the  throne.  During  his  reign,  Greece  joined  the  march 
of  modern  progress  among  the  nations,  and  she  has  developed  rapidly. 


194 


THE   GRECO-TURKISH    WAR  ;195 

Athens  became  once  more  a  seat  of  learning  and  of  efficient  govern- 
ment. 

The  Congress  of  Berlin,  assembled  in  1878,  proposed  a  readjust- 
ment of  the  boundary  line  between  Greece  and  Turkey,  which  for  a 
long  time  had  been  a  source  of  wrangling  and  threatening  between 
the  two  nations.  But  the  new  proposition  of  the  congress  was  not 
satisfactory  to  either  country,  and  it  was  not  until  1881,  when  the 
Turkish  Government  offered  a  compromise  proposal,  that  the  matter 
was  settled  for  the  time  being.  By  this  readjustment  of  the  boun- 
dary, Greece  received  all  of  Thessaly  (long  under  Turkish  control) 
south  of  the  northern  watershed  of  the  Salambria,  and  the  country  to 
the  boundary  of  the  Neta  River. 

Greece  accepted  this  rearrangement  only  under  strong  protest,  for 
in  addition  she  claimed  Crete  (formerly  known  as  Candia) ,  regarding 
that  island  as  her  natural  possession.  The  dissatisfaction  of  the 
Greeks  broke  out  frequently  in  minor  quarrels  with  the  Turks,  who 
held  firm  possession  of  Crete,  and  by  1897  the  popular  unrest  became 
rampant.  Meantime,  the  Christian  population  of  Crete  were  heartily 
tired  of  the  Mohammedan  rule  of  the  Turks,  and,  longing  to  be  rid 
of  it,  called  upon  Greece  to  help  them. 

But  the  European  Powers  were  then  negotiating  with  Turkey  in 
regard  to  the  rights  of  Armenia  and  the  Armenians;  they  warned 
Greece  that  she  must  not  interfere  between  Turkey  and  Crete,  block- 
aded the  Cretan  ports,  and  fired  on  the  insurgents  of  the  island  when 
they  attacked  Turkish  forts  and  garrisons. 

The  autonomy  that  had  been  promised  by  the  Powers  was  not  sat- 
isfactory to  either  the  Turks  or  the  Christian  Cretans,  and  the  latter 
still  called  for  aid  from  Greece.  That  nation  declared  w^ar  on  Turkey 
in  April,  1897,  and  landed  troops  beyond  the  disputed  boundary. 

Unfortunately  for  Greece,  she  was  not  prepared  for  a  conflict; 
her  army  was  badly  officered  and  totally  inefficient,  whereas  the  Turk- 
ish troops  were  comparatively  well  organized.  The  Greeks  were  com- 
pelled to  yield  to  the  savage  mastery  of  a  barbarous  foe,  and  presently 
were  completely  at  their  mercy.  A  sharp  demand  from  Russia 
stopped  the  outrageous  warfare,  and  compelled  an  armistice  to  be  de- 
clared. In  the  negotiations  for  peace  that  followed,  in  December, 
1897,  a  treaty  was  signed  at  Constantinople  whereby  Greece  was  com- 


196  EUROPEAN    WARS    SINCE    1815 

pelled  to  pay  to  Turkey  an  indemnity  of  $18,000,000,  to  submit  to 
another  readjustment  of  the  boundary  that  should  be  satisfactory  to 
the  Turks,  and  to  accept  international  financial  control.  Turkey  de- 
manded the  sole  possession  of  Thessaly  again,  which  had  been  held  by 
Greece  since  1881 ;  but  the  Powers  would  not  consent  to  that,  and  the 
treaty  gave  to  Turkey,  besides  the  money  indemnity,  only  a  small  part 
of  Greek  territory  and  allowed  Greece  to  retain  her  beloved  Thessaly, 
whose  cities,  valleys,  and  mountains  have  been  celebrated  for  centuries 
in  song  and  story. 

War  in  the  Balkan  States  (1912-'13)., — When  Francis  Joseph,  in 
1908,  showed  contempt  for  a  treaty  by  annexing  Bosnia  and  Herze- 
govina— thus  making  Servia  an  inland  State  like  Switzerland — ^he 
came  near  to  provoking  that  general  war  which  his  policy  in  1914 
finally  brought  to  pass.  Then,  as  now,  he  had  the  support  of  Ger- 
many, and  had  it  not  been  that  Russia  was  weakened  by  her  conflict 
with  Japan,  he  could  not  so  easily  have  defied  the  Triple  Entente. 

But  events  in  southeastern  Europe  were  so  shaping  themselves 
that  the  problems  involved  in  the  Eastern  Question  were  about  to  un- 
dergo a  complete  readjustment.  The  territory  comprised  in  the 
Balkan  States  had  long  been  the  shuttlecock  of  the  Powers.  While 
the  Turk  remained  in  Europe,  and  while  Russian  interference  found 
a  check  in  the  opposing  interests  of  Great  Britain,  the  subject  nations 
south  of  the  Danube  were  doomed  to  be  the  playthings  of  contending 
kings.  So  the  lack  of  a  remedy  from  without  awaited  a  remedy  from 
within.  All  through  the  closing  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  the 
germ  of  this  remedy  was  developing  with  the  growth  of  national  aspi- 
rations and  the  spread  of  liberalism.  Despotism  no  longer  hindered, 
but  quickened  and  intensified  the  passionate  desire  of  an  oppressed 
people  to  work  out  their  own  destinies  in  their  own  way.  The  time 
came  when  no  tyranny,  and  no  combinations  of  selfish  statesmen, 
could  retard  it:  the  "Balkan  war-cloud" — long  a  hackneyed  headline 
in  the  newspaper  press — really  did  burst  at  last,  and  the  rain  of  fire 
descended. 

That  piece  of  political  patchwork,  the  Treaty  of  Berlin  (1878), 
was  an  attempt  to  weave  cloth  of  gold  into  the  same  texture  with  cloth 
of  frieze.  As  a  garment  designed  to  cover  the  moral  and  social 
nakedness  of  southeastern  Europe,  it  turned  out  to  be  a  piece  of 


THE    BALKAN    WAR 


197 


shoddy  that  presently  began  to  split  at  the  seams.  The  first  rent  was 
made  by  Bulgaria,  which  had  chosen  Alexander  of  Battenberg  as  its 
ruler.  Objecting  to  Russian  domination,  as  they  had  previously  re- 
sented Turkish  misrule,  the  Bulgarians  ousted  the  czar's  ministers, 
and  then,  in  1885,  joined  hands  with  their  countrymen  south  of  the 
Balkans.  By  this  daring  stroke.  Eastern  Roumelia  became  a  part 
of  Bulgaria,   from  which   it  had  been  unnaturally  parted  by  the 


Turkish  Troops  on  the  March 


Powers.  Russia  resented  an  act  of  impudence  that  actually  set  con- 
siderations of  true  national  ties  above  the  arbitrary  arrangement  of 
boundaries  defined  by  despotic  principles.  Russian  military  officers, 
having  schooled  the  Bulgars  in  war,  now  left  Bulgaria  to  take  care  of 
itself;  and  Bulgarian  capacity  to  do  so  was  immediately  demonstrated 
in  a  complete  repulse  of  the  Servians,  who  had  risen  in  jealous  protest 
of  Bulgarian  expansion.  Then  followed  the  kidnapping  of  Prince 
Alexander  by  the  Russians,  his  return  and  abdication,  the  election  of 
Prince  Ferdinand  (1887),  and  the  rise  of  the  great  statesman,  Stam- 


198  EUROPEAN    WARS    SINCE    1815 

buloff.  Until  1894,  the  year  of  his  fall  from  power  and  a  year  pre- 
ceding his  assassination  in  Sofia,  he  was  the  real  ruler  of  Bulgaria, 
which  rapidly  took  its  place  among  modern  and  prosperous  countries. 
The  climax  of  this  movement  came  in  1908,  when  Bulgaria  proclaimed 
her  complete  independence  of  Turkey,  and  her  prince  took  on  the  title 
of  king. 

Servia  has  been  less  fortunate.  Denied  expansion  by  Austria, 
harried  commercially  by  the  House  of  Hapsburg,  and  unhappy  in  her 
rulers,  she  has  yet  to  solve  the  problem  of  self-government.  She  has 
been  a  kingdom  since  1882,  and  for  seven  years  she  suffered  the  scan- 
dalous reign  of  King  Milan,  followed  by  the  despotism  of  Alexander, 
only  to  enthrone  in  1903  a  king  who  owes  his  crown  to  murder.  Yet 
the  nation  has  tremendous  vitality,  and  it  took  the  lead  in  the  over- 
throw of  the  Turk. 

The  year  1908  was  momentous  in  southeastern  Europe.  Bul- 
garia became  a  kingdom ;  Austria-Hungary  seized  two  Turkish  prov- 
inces; and  the  Young  Turks,  in  the  Revolution  of  July,  startled  the 
whole  world  by  wresting  a  constitution  from  the  sultan  and  espous- 
ing the  cause  of  reform.  This  upheaval  in  Asiatic  Turkey  where,  of 
all  countries  of  the  world,  despotism  seemed  to  sit  secure,  supplies  an 
extraordinary  chapter  in  modern  history.  It  is  significant  as  show- 
ing the  widespread  agitation  of  liberal  ideas,  and  the  surprising  ease 
with  which  these  ideas  may  be  communicated  and  acted  upon  in  the 
most  uncongenial  atmosphere.  The  sultan's  name  had  ever  been  a 
synonym  for  absolute  rule  upheld  by  private  murder  and  adminis- 
tered without  remorse.  Suddenly  a  secret  party  among  his  subjects 
sprang  up  as  if  by  magic  in  Istamboul  (Constantinople),  rallying  to 
the  cause  their  brother  exiles  in  Paris.  When  Abdul  Hamid  called 
upon  his  army  it  did  not  obey.  For  even  the  army  had  gone  over  to 
the  conspirators,  and  absolutism,  outwitted,  now  graciously  permitted 
a  parliament.  The  revolution  had  been  accomplished  with  little  dis- 
order, and  all  classes  and  creeds,  forgetting  hereditary  hatreds,  be- 
came as  brothers  who  had  overthrown  the  common  enemy.  Never  be- 
fore in  the  world's  history  had  infidel  and  Christian,  purified  of  ran- 
cor, met  on  the  neutral  ground  of  humanity  and  embraced  within 
sight  of  the  Crescent. 

It  was  perhaps  this  triumph  of  the  Young  Turks  that  precipitated 


THE    BALKAN    WAR 


199 


Austria-Hungary's  rapacious  actipn  the  following  October,  that  in- 
spired the  Greeks  of  Crete  to  announce  their  allegiance  to  Greece,  and 
that  hastened  the  proclamation  of  independence  by  Bulgaria.  Yet 
the  Young  Turks  survived  these  successive  shocks  to  their  prestige. 
They  were  even  able  to  regain  the  upper  hand  in  Constantinople  when 
the  army  mutinied  in  April,  civil  war  was  threatened,  and  massacres 
took  place  in  Asia  Minor. 


Christians  Fleeing  from  Turkish  Territory 


Once  more  in  control,  after  a  brief  campaign  involving  the  cap- 
ture of  Constantinople  by  loyal  soldiers  from  afar,  the  Young  Turks 
deposed  Abdul  Hamid  and  placed  Mohammed  V  on  the  throne.  But 
against  the  violations  of  the  Treaty  of  Berlin  they  protested  to  the 
Powers  in  vain.  It  seems  that,  for  all  their  good  intent,  Turkish  re- 
form had  come  too  late  to  avert  a  catastrophe  brought  about  by  cen- 
turies of  cruelty  throughout  the  Ottoman  Empire. 

When  the  Powers  in  1878  had  endeavored  to  lay  the  ghost  of  the 
Eastern  Question  by  an  artificial  and  ineffectual  arrangement  of 
boundaries,  they  had  begged  the  little  question  within  the  greater — ■ 
the  question  of  what  should  be  done  with  Macedonia,  the  last  redoubt 


200 


EUROPEAN    WARS    SINCE    1815 


of  the  Turks  in  Europe.  Macedonia,  with  an  area  about  equal  to 
that  of  IlUnois,  stretches  from  Thrace  on  the  Black  Sea  westward  to 
Albania  on  the  Adriatic.  The  Lord  of  Misrule,  possessed  by  the 
spirit  of  malign  mischief,  could  not  have  assembled  a  population 
more  diverse  or  more  torn  by  contending  interests.  Macedonia  has 
been  at  once  a  tragedy  and  a  farce.  As  an  experiment  in  political 
chemistry,  it  presents  an  aggregation  of  human  atoms  flying  vio- 
lently apart.  It  is  less  homogeneous  than  the  east  side  of  New  York 
City,  and  its  government  has  been  more  corrupt  than  a  ward  politi- 


Turkish  Guns  Protected  by   Sand   Bags 


cian  could  imagine  in  his  dearest  dreams.  Its  races  are  a  mixture  of 
Slav,  Bulgar,  Bulgar-Slav,  degenerate  Roman,  conquered  Greek, 
Albanian  bandit,  and  unclassified  mongrel.  Massacre  has  for  genera- 
tions been  a  pastime,  and  injustice  and  oppression  a  matter  of  course. 
Why  it  should  remain  inhabited  at  all,  by  people  strong  enough  to 
walk  out  of  it,  is  a  conundrum  that  only  over-populated  Europe  can 
answer.  Yet  Macedonia,  taken  over  bj^  the  various  Balkan  States  in 
rational  relation  to  its  races,  would  undergo  the  usual  transforma- 
tion, and  emerge  from  its  disorder.  As  the  Powers  of  Europe  did 
not  know  what  to  do  with  Macedonia,  in  1878  they  once  more  turned  it 
over  to  the  Turk. 

The  distress  of  this  unhappy  country  was  not  alleviated  under  the 


THE    BALKAN    WAR 


201 


Turkish   Soldiers   D^ing   of  the  Cholera   Near  Constantinople 


regime  of  the  Young  Turks.  Among  their  number  was  no  man  of 
that  commanding  statesmanship  essential  to  the  reconstruction  of  the 
empire.  Neither  in  Europe  nor  in  Asia  were  the  reforms  proposed 
by  the  new  political  party  carried  out  by  its  controlling  committee  of 
reunion  and  progress.  There  were  uprisings  in  Albania  and  Arabia, 
and  a  massacre  of  Armenians  by  Kurds,  and  on  September  29,  1911. 


202 


EUROPEAN    WARS    SINCE    1815 


war  broke  out  between  Turkey  and  Italy  as  a  sequel  to  the  ultimatum 
demanding  Turkish  recognition  of  an  Italian  protectorate  in  Tripoli. 
This  war  lasted  a  year.  The  Italians  were  able  to  occupy  the  coast  of 
Tripoli  and  to  hold  it,  and  in  1912  their  fleet  captured  some  of  the 
Mgean  Islands  and  sank  two  Turkish  warships  in  the  harbor  of 
Beirut.     By  this  time  popular  discontent  in  Turkey  had  increased; 


Aviator   Reporting    His  Trip  Over  Adrianople  to  the   Buigarian   General  Yankoff 


the  political  power  of  the  Young  Turks  was  overthrown  by  members 
of  the  Liberal  Union,  the  parliament  was  dissolved,  and  freedom  of 
the  press  was  denied.  Also,  there  were  rumblings  of  impending  war 
the  Balkans.     So   Turkey  hastened  to  make  peace  with  Italy 


m 


(October  18,  1912),  leaving  the  Italians  free  to  administer  civil  af- 
fairs in  Tripoli. 

Turkey  was  now  confronted  by  a  far  more  serious  situation,  aris- 
ing from  chronic  failure  to  effect  long-promised  reforms  in  Mace- 
donia.    The  Powers  have  guaranteed  these  reforms,  just  as  they  had 


THE    BALKAN    WAR 

guaranteed  to  Turkey  the  integrity  of  possessions  held  under  the 
flimsy  Treaty  of  Berlin.  But  it  had  really  suited  their  purpose  bet- 
ter to  let  things  in  Macedonia  take  their  course.  Good  government 
in  that  country  meant  indefinite  occupation  by  the  Turk,  while  bar- 
barous government  might  some  day  provide  the  excuse  for  partition- 
ing the  Ottoman  Empire  among  themselves  in  a  friendly  way. 


In  the  Turkish  Trenches  Near  TchataIJa 

But  the  Christian  States  in  the  Balkan  Peninsula  had  become 
weary  of  waiting.  Early  in  1912  they  proposed  to  settle  the  question 
for  themselves,  without  asking  leave  of  Europe.  For  the  time  being, 
rivalries  were  buried,  and  in  February,  1912,  Servia,  Bulgaria,  Greece 
and  Montenegro  formed  an  alliance  to  promote  the  common  interests. 
This  alliance  aimed  first  of  all  to  enforce  neglected  reforms,  and  mili- 
tary preparations  were  made  without  further  delay.  So  rapidly  did 
the  war  spirit  spread  that  in  September  Turkey  took  alarm  and  as- 
sembled an  army  near  Adrianople,  under  the  thin  pretext  of  army 
maneuvers.  Thereupon  Servia  and  Bulgaria  launched  at  the  Porte 
an  ultimatum  for  administrative  reform.     This  was  rejected,  and  the 


204  EUROPEAN    WARS    SINCE    1815 

Powers  strove  to  avert  a  conflict.  But  it  was  too  late.  Macedonia, 
from  the  Euxine  to  the  Adriatic,  and  from  Servia  to  Thessaly,  almost 
immediately  became  the  scene  of  an  amazing  war  in  which  the  Turks — 
invincible  against  Greece  in  1897 — repeatedly  gave  way  to  their 
aggressors. 

Little  Montenegro  was  the  first  to  act,  declaring  war  against  Tur- 
key on  October  8.  It  was  still  hoped  that  the  Turks  would  come 
to  terms,  but  they  would  not  brook  the  interference  of  the  Balkan 
States  in  their  internal  affairs,  and  on  October  17  war  was  declared 
by  Turkey  against  Servia  and  Bulgaria.  On  the  same  day  Greece, 
whose  ships  had  been  seized  in  Turkish  waters,  declared  war  against 
the  Porte. 

In  the  general  conflict  that  ensued,  Servia  may  be  said  to  have 
taken  the  leading  part.  Yet  her  allies  performed  prodigies  as  well. 
Two  columns  of  the  Montenegrin  army  pressed  south  toward  Scutari, 
in  northern  Albania;  and  a  third  column,  under  General  Vukovitch, 
marched  eastward  to  join  the  Servians.  In  Albania,  Lazovitch  led  a 
column  that  reduced  several  Turkish  fortresses  and  cleared  the  way 
to  the  capital,  Scutari.  Here  the  western  army,  under  JVIartinovitch, 
combined  with  him  in  beginning  the  siege  of  the  city,  garrisoned  by 
eighteen  thousand  troops.  To  cut  off  its  supplies,  Martinovitch  suc- 
cessfully attacked  the  seaport  towns  on  the  west,  and,  driving  the 
Turks  down  the  Adriatic  coast,  forced  them  into  Alessio.  Here  the 
Montenegrins  were  joined  by  a  Servian  column  that  had  managed  to 
push  its  guns  from  Prizrend  through  the  snow  of  the  Albanian  Moun- 
tains. Four  hours  later  the  Turkish  garrison  surrendered  (Novem- 
ber 18). 

The  Servian  army  was  two  hundred  thousand  strong.  Two  of  its 
columns,  commanded  by  Crown  Prince  Alexander  and  General  Ste- 
fanovich,  set  out  to  capture  Uskiib,  garrisoned  by  a  Turkish  army 
corps.  At  Kumanovo  they  encountered  the  Sixth  Corps  of  the  Turks 
under  Zekki  Pasha.  The  Servian  artillery  proved  to  be  too  much  for 
the  enemy  in  a  furious  battle  that  raged  for  two  days,  and  five  thou- 
sand Turks  were  slain.  What  was  left  of  Zekki's  army  fled  to  Uskiib, 
only  to  be  routed  once  more  by  the  victorious  Serbs  (October  26). 
This  time  his  troops  found  refuge  with  the  Seventh  Corps  at  Mona- 
stir,  engaged  in  resisting  the  Greeks.     Here  again  the  Servians  fell 


THE    BALKAN    WAR 


205 


upon  and  utterly  routed  the  enemy.     Monastir,  with  more  than  forty 
thousand  troops,  surrendered  on  November  15. 

The  Bulgars,  with  three  hundred  and  forty  thousand  men,  had 
taken  the  field  in  Thrace.  At  first  Abdullah  Pasha,  with  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  troops,  awaited  the  Bulgarian  advance  at  a 
point  north  of  Adrianople ;  but  he  soon  fell  back  upon  a  fortified  zone 
with  Adrianople  at  one  extremity  and  Kirk  Kilisseh  at  the  other. 
From  Kirk  Kilisseh  the  Third  Corps,  under  Mukhtar  Pasha,  was 


Guns  Captured  from  the  Turks  by  the   Bulgars 


routed  on  October  24  by  Dimitrieff,  and  fled  in  a  panic  to  Viza. 
Five  days  later  the  Bulgars,  under  Kutincheff,  reenforced  by  three 
brigades  from  IranoiF,  took  Liile  Burgas  by  assault.  Viza,  how- 
ever, with  its  one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  troops,  resisted  Dimi- 
trieff's  attack,  and  Abdullah  was  emboldened  to  take  the  aggressive. 
But  his  army,  weakened  by  the  withdrawal  of  one  hundred  thousand 
men  for  the  defense  of  Constantinople,  short  of  ammunition,  and 
fasting  for  three  days,  could  not  cope  with  the  Bulgars.  It  retreated 
in  disorder,  without  food,  transports  or  ambulances,  to  the  Tchataldja 
lines  that  form  the  land  defense  of  Constantinople,  across  the  penin- 
sula, about  twenty  miles  from  the  capital.     Here  the  Turks  rallied, 


206  EUROPEAN    WARS    SINCE    1815 

and  with  the  aid  of  heavy  siege  guns  that  outranged  the  opposing 
artillery  held  their  own  in  a  two  days'  battle  (November  17-19). 

Meanwhile  Greece  had  not  been  idle.  The  greater  part  of  her 
one  hundred  and  ten  thousand  troops  marched  against  Salonica.  On 
November  8  the  Turkish  commander,  finding  himself  besieged  by 
greatly  superior  armies  that  virtually  surrounded  him,  surrendered 
the  city  to  the  Greeks,  Serbs,  and  Bulgars.  The  allies  took  thirty 
thousand  prisoners,  and  Greece  brought  her  navy  into  play,  blocking 
Turkish  ports  and  seizing  islands  of  the  northern  ^gean.  Another 
Greek  army  had  pushed  north  into  Epirus,  with  Janina  as  the  objec- 
tive ;  still  another  had  taken  part  in  the  successful  assault  of  the  Serbs 
on  JMonastir. 

But  now,  with  cholera  in  the  Turkish  camp  and  Albania  proclaim- 
ing her  independence,  an  armistice  was  declared,  in  which  Greece 
alone  refused  to  participate.  A  peace  conference  held  in  London 
came  to  nothing,  and  on  Febi*uary  3  the  war  was  renewed. 

Abdullah  had  left  forty  thousand  men  in  Adrianople,  and  the 
Bulgars  now  bent  their  energies  to  reducing  it  and  to  breaking 
through  the  line  of  two  hundred  thousand  men  that  protected  Con- 
stantinople. IranofF,  in  his  siege  of  Adrianople,  now  had  the  assist- 
ance of  forty-five  thousand  Serbs.  The  city  had  stoutly  resisted  the 
attacks  of  the  Bulgars  alone,  but  on  March  26  it  fell  before  the  com- 
bined assault  of  Serb  and  Bulgar.  The  siege  cost  the  allies  seven 
thousand  men.  The  Turks  had  lost  one  thousand,  and  they  yielded 
up  thirty  thousand  prisoners.  On  the  peninsula  the  Bulgars  fell  back, 
hoping  the  Turks  would  follow  them  inland. 

The  Greeks,  ignoring  the  armistice,  endeavored  to  take  Janina, 
and  on  March  6  it  surrendered  to  the  crown  prince.  At  Scutari, 
too,  the  armistice  had  been  ignored,  and  on  February  6  the  Monte- 
negrins, aided  by  fifteen  thousand  Serbs  under  Colonel  Popovich,  be- 
gan a  furious  assault.  A  few  weeks  later  the  Powers,  who  had  once 
more  began  to  meddle  in  Balkan  affairs,  came  to  an  agreement  con- 
cerning the  boundaries  of  Albania,  and  called  upon  King  Nicholas  to 
raise  the  siege.  The  Serbs  responded  to  this  demand,  but  stubborn 
Montenegro  would  not  release  its  grip  till  the  city  fell  (April  23), 
though  Austria  threatened  invasion  and  the  battle-ships  of  the  Powers 
assembled  on  the  coast. 


THE    BALKAN    WAR  207 

Peace  came  at  last,  after  repeated  requests  by  Turkey  for  media- 
tion; representatives  of  the  five  States  met  in  London,  and  on  May 
30  the  Treaty  of  London  was  signed.  By  the  terms  of  this  treaty 
Turkey  turned  over  all  Macedonia  to  her  new  conquerors,  retiring  to 
the  east  of  a  line  drawn  from  Enos  on  the  Sea  of  Marmora  to  Midia 
on  the  Black  Sea.  Crete,  too,  was  abandoned;  and  Albania  and  the 
captured  iEgean  Islands  were  left  to  the  wisdom  of  the  Powers. 
Mr.  Gladstone's  wish  had  virtually  been  fulfilled :  the  Turks  were  in- 


Turkish  Troops  on  the  Firing  Line 

deed  expelled  from  Europe,  "bag  and  baggage."     But  Great  Britain 
had  had  no  part  in  the  transaction. 

Having  gained  a  glorious  victory,  the  Balkan  States  now  pro- 
ceeded to  quarrel  over  the  spoils.  Servia  had  been  deprived  of  Alba- 
nia by  the  Powers,  and  was  not  disposed  to  live  up  to  her  private 
bargain  with  Bulgaria  respecting  new  boundaries.  Rumania,  which 
had  done  no  fighting,  came  forward  with  a  demand  for  a  Southern 
strategic  frontier  to  be  carved  from  Bulgarian  territory.  Greeks  and 
Serbs  had  formed  a  new  alliance.  Then,  suddenly,  without  declara- 
tion of  war,  Bulgaria  hurled  an  army  against  these  foes.  Servia, 
though  unprepared,  not  only  met  the  attack,  but  put  the  Bulgars  to 
rout.  The  Greeks,  too,  were  successful  in  several  fights,  and  on  July 
10  Montenegro  went  to  Servia's  assistance.  Bulgaria  was  battling 
alone,  and  the  Turks  took  advantage  of  her  predicament.  The  Turk- 
ish army  was   still  mobilized,  and   sixty  thousand   Bulgarians   en- 


208 


EUROPEAN    WARS    SINCE    1815 


Flags  of  the  Powers    Flying  Over  Scutari   After   Its  Surrender 


camped  near  Rodesto  were  no  match  for  it.  Liile  Burgas,  Viza, 
Adrianople — all  were  recaptured  (July  22). 

Serbs  and  Greeks  pressed  their  campaign,  and  meanwhile  the 
King  of  Rumania  marched  upon  Sofia.  Bulgaria  could  but  yield. 
The  strategical  frontier  was  promised,  and  a  Bulgarian  envoy  set  out 
for  Nish,  to  negotiate  with  Servia  and  Greece. 

On  August  10,  1913,  the  treaty  signed  at  Bucharest  doubled  the 
domain  of  Servia.  Greece  received  parts  of  Albania,  JNIacedonia  and 
Thrace.  Rumania  acquired  two  thousand  square  miles  of  Bulga- 
ria's northwestern  territory.  To  Bulgaria  was  allotted  seven  thou- 
sand square  miles  to  the  south  and  west.  Montenegro  received  a 
small  reward.  In  September  the  Turk  was  formally  reinstated  in  an 
area  comprising  Adrianople  and  Kirk  Kilisseh;  and  in  November 
Greece  and  Turkey  came  to  an  agreement. 


WAR  STRENGTH  OF  THE  GREAT  POWERS 

ARMIES 


RUS  S I A       FRANCE  bwi^n  GERMANY  AUSTRIA 

600.0  OO 

5,500,000        4",000,000  4.500,000      2.S00.0O0 


ITALY 

2.000,000 


NAVIES 


OTHER 
DDEAISNOUGUTS   BATTLESHIPS 


GREAT 
BRITAIN 


FRANCE        "^^ 
4 


CRUISERS 


MKN 

PCACe  a-THtMCiTM 

DESTRQYEBS   SUBMARINES 


TOS«»EDO-BOAT 


NONE 


RUSSIA 

GERMANY  ^^V|^ 


AUSTRIA       ,^ 

3 


M. 


14 


ITALY 
TURKEY 


4 


11 


4 


52. 

%\ 
II 

2» 


M 

2 


.Alb 
IS 


TAoeo 


soxoo 


Id 


szooo 


laoeo 


The  army  diagrams  represent  the  relative  strength  el  the  forces  available  for  the  virar,  estimated  on  a  conservative 
basis.  The  naval  figfures  are  only  approximate,  as  no  single  classification  can  be  strictly  applied  to  all  navies. 
Several  ships  have  been  added  to  the  British  Navy  since  the  outbreak  of  the  war. 

— From  Nelson's  "War  Atias." 

209 


AIRCRAFT 


AUSTRIA 


*^    150 
ITALY 


jAHT.LLERY  PEACE  STRENGTH  OF  THE  GREAT  POWERS 

100.000  ■ 


I  CAVALRY 
120.000 


I  INFANTRY 
UDOOOOO 

OTHER 
DETAILS 

I30.00C 


ARTILLERY  k- 
97.571       "4 

CAVALRY  zz 
73.360     °* 

mrANTRV  2^ 

36I.34S     55 


AHTILLCRV 

aCAVALRV 
I      14,700 
■iNFANTRV 
I       9S.799 


RUSSIA 

1.350.000 


FRANCE     G""^  BRITAIN 

645.644  169^00 


GERMANY     AUSTRIA  ITALY 

790.9B5  414.156  a04,b72. 


ARMIES  OF  OTHER  EUROPEAN  STATES 

^  ^  O      ON  A  WAR  FOOTING 


R13MANIA          SPAIN         BULGARIA      TURKEY          SERVIA         BELGIUM        HOLLAND  MONTENECW) 
700.000  600,000  550.000  500.000 300.000  300.000  175.000  50.000 


These  diagrams  represent  graphically  the  peace  strengfth  of  the  Great  Powers  and  the  war  strength  of  the 
smaller  states.      The  aircraft  are  given  as  at  the  beginning  of  the  war. 


—From  Nelson's  "War  Atlas.' 


210 


211 


FRANCIS  JOSEPH  (FRANZ  JOSEF— FERENCZ  j6zSEF)  I 

Emperor  of  Austria,  Apostolic  King  of  Hungary,  King  of  Jerusalem,  etc.     Born  at  Schonbruunn, 

August  18,  1830.     Son  of  the  Archduke  Francis   Charles,  and  of  Sophie,   Princess  of 

Bavaria.     Succeeded  to  the  throne,  December  2,  1848.     Crowned  King  of 

Hungary,  June  8,    1867.      Married,  April  24,  1854,   Elizabeth, 

Duchess  of   Bavaria 

212 


CHAPTER   X 


COUNTRIES  INVOLVED  AND  AT  WAR 


Austria-Hungary. — Austria-Hungary,  the  largest  country  in 
Europe  except  Russia,  embraces  the  Austrian  Empire,  the  Kingdom 
of  Hungary,  and  the  provinces  of  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina,  annexed 
in  1908.  The  western,  or  Austrian,  half  of  the  monarchy  includes 
the  Kingdom  of  Bohemia,  the  margraviate  of  Moravia,  the  duchy  of 
Silesia,  the  archduchies  of  Upper  and  Lower  Austria,  the  duchies  of 
Styria,  Salzburg,  Carinthia,  and  Carniola,  the  county  of  Tyrol,  the 
dependenc}^  of  Vorarlberg,  the  county  of  Goez  and  Gradisea,  the  mar- 
graviate of  Istria,  the  city  of  Trieste,  and  the  strip  of  land  along  the 
coast  of  the  Adriatic  Sea  known  as  Dalmatia.  North  and  northeast 
of  Hungary  are  the  Kingdom  of  Galicia  and  the  Duchy  of  Bukowina, 
both  included  in  the  imperial  dominions.  This  half  of  the  empire  is 
called  the  Cisleithania  division,  meaning  the  lands  on  the  western  side 
of  the  river  Leitha.  The  area  of  Austria  alone  is  115,903  miles,  and 
its  latest  census  gives  26,150,708  of  population. 

Hungary,  the  Transleithan  division  of  the  dual  monarchy,  lies 
east  of  Austria,  with  Austrian  Galicia  on  the  north,  Rumania  on  the 
east  and  south,  and  Servia,  Dalmatia,  and  Bosnia  also  on  the  south, 
and  Transylvania  in  the  west.  It  is  comprised  of  Hungary  proper, 
with  an  area  of  108,229  square  miles,  Croatia-Slavonia  (16,418  square 
miles),  and  the  city  of  Fiume,  the  total  area  being  124,655.  The 
population  of  Hungary  is  19,254,559. 

On  the  northeast  and  the  southeast,  the  territory  of  Austria  is  en- 
circled for  nearly  900  miles  by  the  Carpathian  Mountains.  In  the 
west  and  southwest  extend  ramifications  of  the  Tyrolean  Alps  a  long 
distance  in  the  country.  The  characteristic  geographical  feature  is 
the  great  central  plain  of  the  Alfold,  covering  about  37,500  square 
miles,  and  consisting  of  wide,  open,  treeless  tracts  where  great  herds 
of  horses,  cattle,  sheep,  swine,  and  even  buffaloes,  graze.     Many  acres 

213 


214 


COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 


of  this  vast  plain  have  been  cultivated,  and  they  produce  enormous 
crops  of  various  grains.    In  Transylvania  fine  horses  are  bred. 

Next  to  the  Volga  River,  in  Russia,  the  Danube,  of  Austria,  is 
the  largest  river  of  Europe,  820  miles  long,  and  navigable  by  very 
large  ships.     Its  canals,  connected  with  the  Rhine  and  the  Elbe,  are 


A    Detachment   of   Cadets   from   Austria's    West    Point 


important  waterways  for  commerce.  Before  1492,  this  river  was  the 
trade  route  from  Europe  to  Asia,  goods  being  brought  by  camels  to 
the  Mediterranean  ports  of  Asia  and  sent  to  either  Venice  or  Con- 
stantinople; they  were  then  taken  across  the  Black  Sea  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Danube  and  thence  brought  up  into  Central  Europe.  No 
longer  is  the  Danube  the  chief  route  to  Asia,  but  it  is  the  great  artery 


AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 


215 


of  Austro-Hungarian  life,  and  commercial  products  of  all  kinds  are 
carried  over  its  waters  to  flourishing  towns  and  cities  along  its  banks. 
In  its  valleys  is  the  finest  fertile  land  in  the  country,  the  southernmost 
regions  of  which  grow  grapes,  corn,  and  olives.  Unlike  most  of 
Europe,  the  united  lands  produce  enough  food  for  their  own  people. 
From  the  days  of  Charlemagne,  who  reigned  from  768  to  814,  the 


Funeral   Procession   of  the  Archduke   Ferdinand   Passing   Through    Sarajevo 


territory  lying  south  of  the  Danube  River  was  a  margraviate,  or  "bor- 
der country,"  under  the  rule  of  a  margrave  ("keeper  of  the  border") 
until  the  year  1156;  when  it  was  raised  to  a  duchy,  later  becoming  an 
archduchy.  By  1438  the  rulers  of  this  territory  had  annexed  the 
provinces  north  of  the  Danube,  and  in  that  year  began  in  Germany 
the  continuous  reign  of  the  House  of  Hapsburg,  which  took  its  name 
from  a  German  princely  family  dwelling  in  the  castle  of  Hapsburg 
("hawk's  castle")  on  the  banks  of  the  Aar  River,  the  founder  of 
which  house  being  Count  Rudolf,  who  was  elected  Emperor  of  Ger- 
many in  1273  and  later  acquired  Austria  and  established  his  line  there. 


216 


AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 


217 


In  Hungary  the  Hapsburg  rule  began  in  1526,  when  Bohemia,  Mo- 
ravia, and  Silesia  were  added  to  Hungarian  dominions,  over  which 
JVIaximilian  II  was  the  first  emperor  to  receive  the  imperial  crown,  in 
1564.  In  1716  a  successful  war  against  Turkey  made  the  monarchy 
still  stronger.  A  loose  kind  of  federation  held  the  States  together 
until  Napoleon  made  himself  Emperor  of  the  French  in  1804,  when 
Francis  I,  son  of  Leopold  II,  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  pro- 
claimed himself  hereditary  Emperor  of  Austria,  and  united  all  the 
States  in  the  Empire  of  Austria-Hungary.     He  could  not  check  the 


Austrian    Marines  at  Trieste 


career  of  the  conquering  Napoleon,  and  was  compelled  to  make  peace 
with  the  French  Emperor  after  the  battle  of  Wagram,  whereby  Aus- 
tria lost  32,000  square  miles  of  land.  This  did  not  prevent  the  auda- 
cious Napoleon  from  presenting  himself  as  a  suitor  for  the  hand  of 
Austria's  princess,  Maria  Louisa,  whom  he  married  in  1810,  having 
divorced  the  Empress  Josephine  the  previous  year.  The  present 
reign,  under  Francis  Joseph  I,  who  acceded  to  the  throne  in  1848,  has 
been  reasonably  peaceful  and  very  prosperous. 

Hungary  had  a  stormy  career  until  1867,  when  an  independent 
Hungarian  ministry  was  formed  under  the  leadership  of  Count 
Andrassy.  The  first  Hungarian  Constitution  was  made  in  891  when 
the  country  was  occupied  by  the  Magyars.    Before  this  time  the  ter- 


218 


AUSTRIA-HUNGARY  219 

ritory  had  been  a  Roman  possession.  And  at  the  fall  of  the  Roman 
Empire  it  was  overrun  by  different  peoples,  among  whom  the  Huns 
and  the  Avars  lived  the  longest  period  and  from  whom  the  name 
"Hungary"  is  supposed  to  be  derived.  The  Magyars  are  believed  to 
be  of  Turanian  blood — that  is,  descended  from  the  ancient  Scythians. 
In  Hungary  they  settled  along  the  borders  of  the  Danube,  but  went 
on  marauding  expeditions  as  far  as  Greece  and  Italy.  In  985  Geya, 
their  leader,  became  a  Christian  and  took  the  name  of  Stephen.  His 
son  married  a  daughter  of  the  House  of  Bavaria,  thus  connecting 
Hungary  with  one  of  the  kingdoms  of  Europe.  The  first  charter 
granting  rights  to  the  people  was  made  in  the  year  1222,  and  was 
called  the  "Bulla  Aurea."  In  1848  the  dealings  of  the  Austrian 
court  with  Hungary  drove  the  Hungarians  to  insurrection,  led  by 
Louis  Kossuth.  The  insurrection  was  quelled,  and  the  charter  rights 
were  not  restored  until  1867,  when  the  crown  of  Hungary  was  of- 
fered to  the  present  Austrian  Emperor,  who  vowed  to  maintain  for 
the  Hungarians  all  the  rights  allowed  by  the  ancient  constitution. 

This  chief  bond  of  connection  between  the  two  peoples  is  in  their 
possessing  the  same  ruler.  He  takes  separate  oaths  of  office  and  has 
a  coronation  ceremony  at  both  Vienna  and  Budapest,  the  Hungarian 
capital.  It  was  agreed  in  1867  that  both  countries  should  have  a 
common  administration  for  certain  state  business,  although  each 
should  retain  absolute  independence,  with  its  own  constitution  and  leg- 
islative bodies.  Certain  financial  matters,  such  as  taxes  and  coinage, 
as  well  as  the  duties  of  public  officials  and  the  system  of  weights  and 
measures,  are  discussed  and  settled  by  the  legislatures  of  the  two 
countries  once  in  ten  years. 

The  legislative  bodies — known  as  the  Delegations — of  each  coun- 
try deliberate  separately,  and  exchange  necessary  business  communi- 
cations in  letters.  If,  after  these  interchanges,  the  two  Delegations 
cannot  agree,  they  meet  in  person  and  vote  upon  vexed  questions 
without  debate. 

In  both  monarchies  military  service  is  compulsory,  beginning  at 
twenty-one  years  of  age  and  continuing  for  three  years  in  the  regular 
army,  followed  by  seven  years  among  the  reserves.  One  year  of  ac- 
tive service  is  required  by  men  belonging  to  the  educated  class.  Until 
1914  six  cavaliy  divisions  were  maintained.     The  peace  strength  of 


VIEWS     IN    VIENNA 

1.   Franzensring.     2.  The   Kursaal.     3.   The   Rathaus.     4.   Museum.      5.   St.   Stephen's   Cathedral. 

6.  Tegethoff  Monument  and  Praterstrasse.     7.   University.     8.  Opera  House. 

9.   Schwarzenberg   Palace 


AUSTRIA-HUNGARY  ^21 

the  whole  army  was  estimated  as  follows:  Infantry,  110  regiments, 
10,800  officers  and  183,000  men;  cavalry,  42  regiments,  1,926  officers 
and  45,996  men.  Besides  these  troops,  the  Austrian  Landwehr  and 
the  Hungarian  Honved  must  be  included,  numbering  about  45,000 
and  32,000  respectively,  which  brought  the  total  of  officers  and  men 
up  to  almost  400,000  before  1914. 

Education  is  compulsory  in  both  States:  in  Austria,  between  the 
ages  of  six  and  fourteen ;  in  Hungary  between  six  and  twelve.  Full 
religious  liberty  is  allowed  in  both  States,  although  members  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  outnumber  all  others. 

In  Austria  the  government  is  controlled  by  the  Reichsrath,  or  Par- 
liament, divided  into  an  Upper  and  a  Lower  House.  The  Upper 
House  consists  of  princes  of  the  imperial  family,  noblemen,  owners  of 
great  tracts  of  land  and  the  higher  clergy.  Members  of  the  Lower 
House  are  elected  by  direct  popular  vote,  every  male  citizen  more  than 
twenty-four  years  old  having  the  privilege  of  voting.  The  emper- 
or's representative  is  the  premier  and  the  cabinet  of  ten  members. 

Public  matters  not  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  parliament  are 
dealt  with  by  local  governments ;  and  each  commune  or  district  has  its 
own  governmental  boards,  elected  by  popular  vote. 

In  Hungary  the  king's  representative  is  the  president  of  the 
Council  and  a  cabinet  of  ten  members.  As  in  Austria,  there  is  an 
Upper  and  a  Lower  House,  composed  of  men  of  the  same  ranks,  lack- 
ing princes  of  the  royal  house. 

The  vast  area  of  these  two  countries  contains  more  different  peo- 
ples speaking  different  languages  than  are  found  anywhere  else  un- 
der one  government.  It  is  a  common  error  to  suppose  that  the  people 
and  the  prevailing  languages  are  chiefly  German.  This  is  true  of  the 
western  provinces  and  of  Vienna,  the  capital  of  Austria,  but  in  the 
north  a  variety  of  languages  is  found.  Near  the  Russian  border 
Polish  is  spoken,  near  Italy  the  people  speak  Italian.  Then  there  are 
the  widely  used  Czech  (Bohemian)  and  Slav  tongues,  spoken  by 
many  thousands;  and  in  Hungary  Magyar  (pronounced  "Mod'yer") 
is  the  common  speech,  though  many  dialects  of  other  peoples  also  are 
heard. 

In  many  of  the  towns,  Germans  and  Bohemians,  Magyars,  Wal- 
lachs,  and  Saxons  have  lived  for  generations  near  one  another,  yet 


222 


COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 


each  of  these  peoples  retains  its  own  language,  customs,  and  costume. 
The  beginning  of  the  history  of  Vienna,  the  brilliant  capital  of 
Austria,  is  found  in  records  of  the  fifth  century,  when  the  barbaric 
Winden  occupied  the  territory  on  which  Vienna  now  stands.  These 
people  were  driven  out  by  the  Romans,  who  in  the  course  of  years 
developed  their  early  camp  settlements  into  a  city,  which  for  a  long 
time  possessed  no  particular  interest  or  importance.     It  was  under 


Austrian   Infantry   Receiving  Tlieir  IVIorning   Coffee 


the  control  of  a  succession  of  dukes  and  archdukes,  and  twice  was  be- 
sieged by  the  Turks,  the  last  siege  being  in  1716  in  the  Austro- 
Turkish  war. 

In  the  days  of  Napoleon's  triumphs,  his  troops  occupied  Vienna 
in  1805-'06  and  again  in  1809;  but  after  his  downfall  in  1815  the  city 
was  the  scene  of  the  gathering  of  the  European  Powers,  in  the  Con- 
gress of  Vienna,  to  decide  what  should  be  done  with  the  fallen 
emperor. 

Representatives  of  all  nations  visit  Vienna,  which  has  been  aptly 
called  "the  crossroads  of  the  Continent,"  and  they  may  always  be  seen 
promenading  or  driving  in  Ring  Street,  a  wide  avenue  in  the  heart  of 


AUSTRIA-HUNGARY  223 

the  city,  lined  with  beautiful  trees  and  stately  buildings,  among  the 
finest  of  which  are  the  vast  House  of  Parliament  of  white  marble, 
the  Court  Theater,  the  sculptured  marble  of  which  portrays  scenes 
from  the  greatest  dramas  of  the  world,  and  the  famous  University  of 
Vienna,  with  its  nine  courts,  stately  halls,  spacious  reading-rooms  and 
hterary  treasures. 

Specially  favored  visitors  at  the  imperial  palace  obtain  a  sight  of 
rare  treasures,  which  are  under  strict  guard,  as  well  they  may  be,  since 
among  them  are  the  crown  of  Charlemagne;  a  wonderful  diamond 
supposed  to  have  been  lost  on  a  battle-field  by  Charles  the  Bold,  which 
in  later  years  was  picked  up  by  a  soldier  who  sold  it  for  two  dollars  as 
a  bit  of  bright  glass;  and  the  silver  cradle,  studded  with  jewels,  in 
which  slept  Napoleon  II,  the  ill-fated  infant  son  of  Napoleon  I  and 
his  second  wife,  the  Austrian  princess  Maria  Louisa. 

The  Cathedral  of  St.  Stephen  is  one  of  the  finest  examples  of  early 
German  architecture;  its  enormous  bell  was  made  from  the  cannon 
used  by  the  Turks  in  one  of  their  unsuccessful  sieges  (1683) . 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  parks  in  Europe  is  the  Prater  of 
Vienna,  which  is  formed  by  two  branches  of  the  Danube,  inclosing 
nearly  four  thousand  acres  of  land,  planted  with  trees  and  lawns. 

The  capital  of  Hungary  is  no  less  gay  and  brilliant  than  that  of 
Vienna.  Budapest  is  composed  of  Buda,  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
Danube,  and  Pest  on  the  left,  the  two  being  connected  by  several 
handsome  bridges,  one  a  suspension  bridge  1,200  feet  long.  Up  to 
the  year  1873  the  two  divisions  were  independent  cities.  The  situa- 
tion of  Buda  is  extremely  picturesque.  A  lock  a  thousand  feet  high 
rises  abruptly  from  the  river  and  is  crowned  by  an  ancient  citadel;  a 
lower  eminence  forms  the  striking  site  for  the  royal  palace;  and  the 
city  circles  in  an  amphitheatric  form  about  the  base.  Pest  is  situated 
on  a  sandy  plain,  but  its  location  on  the  river  gives  it  great  shipping 
advantages  and  large  fleets  of  grain  boats  go  from  its  shores. 

Budapest  is  an  important  railway  center,  and  from  it  different 
lines  connect  with  nearly  all  parts  of  Europe. 

Throughout  this  capital  are  evidences  of  wealth,  culture,  and  com- 
fort. Like  the  Viennese,  the  people  appear  happy  and  prosperous. 
Both  countries  are  satisfied  with  their  government,  and  regard  their 
rulers  with  genuine  patriotic  affection. 


ALBERT     I 

King  of  the  Belgians.      Born  in    Brussels,  April  8,  1875.     Son  of  Philip,   Count  of  Flanders. 

Succeeded  His  Uncle,  Leopold  II,  December  23,  1909.     Married  October  2,   1900, 

Elizabeth,  a   Bavarian  Duchess 

2M 


BELGIUM 


225 


Belgian   Lancers,  with   Pennons  Tattered  by  German  Shells 


Belgium — The  Kingdom  of  Belgium  is  one  of  the  smaller  coun- 
tries of  Europe,  although  the  most  densely  populated  on  the  Conti- 
nent, having  a  population  of  7,317,561  to  a  total  area  of  11,373  square 
miles,  giving  636  inhabitants  to  a  square  mile.  The  whole  country 
is  only  165  miles  long  and  120  miles  wide.  On  the  east  it  is  bounded 
by  Germany,  on  the  north  by  the  North  Sea  and  Holland,  and  on  the 
west  and  south  by  France. 

Belgium  is  comprised  of  nine  provinces:  Antwerp,  Brabant, 
Flanders  (East  and  West),  Liege,  Limburg,  Luxemburg,  Namur, 
and  Hainaut.  The  people  of  these  provinces  belong  to  two  different 
nationalities,  the  Flemish  (German)  and  the  Walloon  (French), 
each  division  occupying  its  own  part  of  the  territory  and  speaking  its 
own  language.  The  Flemings  (people  of  Flanders)  use  a  form  of 
that  Low  German  of  which  the  Dutch  is  a  type,  the  main  difference 
between  the  Flemish  and  the  Dutch  being  in  the  spelling.     The  Wal- 


226 


BELGIUM  22T 

loons,  a  mixed  Italic-Teutonic-Celtic  people,  descended  from  the 
ancient  Gallic  Belgse,  with  a  mingling  of  Roman  elements,  speak  a 
peculiar  patois  of  the  French  tongue,  which  is  nearly  related  to  the 
old  langue  dfoil. 

The  name  "Belgium"  is  derived  from  the  Celtic  people,  the  Bel- 
gse,  or  Belgi,  mentioned  in  Caesar's  "Commentaries,"  who  occupied 
that  region  up  to  the  sixth  century.  In  the  days  of  ancient  Roman 
rule  Belgium  formed  a  part  of  Gaul,  and  later  it  became  a  possession 
of  the  Franks  (the  name  assumed  in  the  third  century  by  a  confed- 
eration of  German  tribes). 

By  the  Treaty  of  Verdun,  made  in  843,  the  ancient  provinces  of 
Artois  and  Flanders  were  annexed  to  France.  Belgium  proper  was 
dependent  on  the  old  German  Empire,  though  ruled  by  Lothair,  a 
grandson  of  Charlemagne.  The  Belgian  people  continued  prosper- 
ous for  several  centuries,  during  which,  as  now,  the  little  kingdom* 
was  always  industrious  and  thriving.  It  passed  under  the  rule  of  ^ 
Spain  in  1555,  but  in  1831,  after  centuries  of  successive  Spanish, 
Austrian,  French,  and  Dutch  domination,  Belgium  threw  off  the  rule 
of  foreigners  and  established  a  monarchy  of  her  own  under  King 
Leopold  I,  youngest  son  of  Francis,  Duke  of  Saxe-Coburg,  since 
which  date  she  has  maintained  that  station  among  the  kingdoms  of 
Europe,  the  reigning  monarch  to-day  (1914)  being  Albert  I  (ac- 
ceded 1909),  son  of  Leopold  11. 

In  1884-'85  Belgium  extended  her  possessions  by  annexing  the 
vast  region  in  Central  Africa  known  as  the  Congo  Free  State,  fronfr' 
which  she  obtains  immense  wealth  in  ivory,  rubber,  gums,  oil,  coffee, 
tobacco,  and  fruits. 

By  the  constitution  of  1831,  the  government  was  made  a  constitu- 
tional, representative,  and  hereditary  monarchy.  The  king  governs 
through  a  council  of  ministers,  or  cabinet.  The  king,  the  Senate, 
and  the  Chamber  of  Representatives  hold  the  power  to  legislate. 
Every  citizen  is  guaranteed  equality  before  the  law,  and  every  male 
citizen  more  than  twenty-five  years  old,  who  has  lived  more  than  a 
year  in  the  same  place,  is  entitled  to  a  vote ;  citizens  more  than  thirty-  ' 
five  years  old,  who  pay  a  house  tax  and  are  married,  have  the  privilege 
of  another  vote.  Such  citizens  as  are  more  than  twenty-five  years 
old,  who  own  real  estate  to  the  value  of  four  hundred  dollars,  or  a  cor- 


BRUSSELS 
The   Palais  de  Justice,  the  Most  Conspicuous  Building   in   Belgium's   Capital 

228 


BELGIUM 


229 


responding  income  from  property,  have  also  two  votes.  Citizens 
more  than  twenty-five  years  old  that  have  received  a  diploma  of  the 
higher  education  or  are  engaged  in  professional  work  resulting  from 
such  education,  have  three  votes,  which  is  the  highest  number  allowed. 
If  a  citizen  fails  to  vote  he  is  liable  to  punishment  by  law. 


Some  of  the   Forts  at   Namur 


The  Belgian  Senate  and  the  Chamber  of  Representatives  meet 
every  year  in  November  and  are  in  session  for  a  period  of  forty  days. 

The  provinces  are  divided  into  communes,  numbering  2,629,  and 
these  districts  largely  govern  their  own  business,  under  a  burgomas- 
ter, a  president,  and  a  board  of  aldermen.  Besides  these  councils  for 
the  communes,  each  province  has  its  own  council,  all  of  which  are 
elected  in  the  same  way. 

At  least  one  elementary  school  in  every  commune  is  required  by 
law.     The  latest  school  statistics  report  15,039  public  schools,  with  a 


230  COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 

total  attendance  of  1,450,310  pupils.  Besides  these,  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  conducts  a  considerable  number  of  schools.  Bel- 
gium contains  six  commercial  high  schools,  eighty-six  schools  of  de- 
sign, numerous  schools  of  music,  and  a  royal  academy  of  fine  arts. 
Brussels,  Liege,  Ghent,  and  Louvain  each  boasts  a  university. 

The  religion  of  the  Belgians  is  almost  wholly  Roman  Catholic. 
There  are  more  than  six  thousand  churches  and  chapels,  and  two 
thousand  convents  and  monasteries.  But  the  Government  allows 
full  religious  liberty  to  all  sects  and  creeds.  The  number  of  Protest- 
ants in  the  country  is  30,000  and  of  Jews  15,000. 

The  country  is  almost  equally  divided  in  the  pursuits  of  agricul- 
ture, manufacture,  and  commerce.  Nearly  all  the  land  is  well  fitted 
for  cultivation  and  the  Belgians  of  the  rural  districts  have  so  well 
availed  themselves  of  their  natural  advantages  that  they  have  long 
been  regarded  as  the  model  farmers  of  Europe.  Vegetables  thrive 
particularly  well  in  this  climate  and  soil,  and  much  beet  sugar  is 
manufactured,  the  centers  of  this  industry  being  in  Louvain,  Mons, 
St.  Nicholas,  Soignies,  and  the  neighborhood  of  Liege. 

Small  as  she  is,  Belgium  lias  succeeded,  thanks  to  the  energy,  the 
determination,  and  the  thriftiness  of  her  people,  in  ranking  with  the 
greatest  manufacturing  countries.  In  the  commerce  of  the  world, 
5  including  imports  and  exports,  she  occupies  fifth  place,  being  ex- 
ceeded only  by  the  United  Kingdom,  Germany,  the  United  States, 
and  France. 

If  we  consider  the  per  capita  ratio,  the  commerce  of  Belgium  is 
proportionately  larger  by  one  third  than  that  of  the  United  King- 
dom, her  nearest  competitor. 

The  two  pillars  of  this  prosperity  are  agriculture  and  industry. 
Belgium  is,  above  all,  a  land  of  small  farming.  In  the  Flemish  part 
of  the  country,  the  agricultural  laborer  devotes  his  leisure  hours  dur- 
ing the  winter  to  weaving  at  home,  while  his  wife  and  daughters 
manufacture  lace,  which  is  known  all  over  the  world.  They  keep  one 
or  two  cows,  a  few  goats,  and  raise  a  large  number  of  rabbits  intended 
for  the  London  market.     Belgian  hares  are  a  staple. 

The  great  horticultural  center  of  the  kingdom  has  been  from  the 
sixteenth  century  the  suburbs  of  Ghent.  There  are  about  three  hun- 
dred large  nurseries  in  that  locality,  besides  a  multitude  of  small  horti- 


BELGIUM 


231 


culturists.     Horticulture  is  practised  largely  also  in  the  suburbs  of 
Brussels,  Bruges,  Liege,  Antwerp,  and  other  cities. 

Although  part  of  the  soil  is  exceedingly  fertile,  in  the  east  it  is 
somewhat  sandy  and  marshy.  The  only  mountains  are  some  off- 
shoots of  the  Ardennes  in  the  south.  The  coast  is  forty  miles  long, 
and  the  whole  country  is  well  watered  by  the  rivers  Meuse  and 
Scheldt,  and  their  affluents,  the  Sambre,  Ourthe,  Werze,  Lys,  Den- 


Belgian  Machine-gun  Drawn  by  Dog  Team 


der,  and  Rupel.     There  are  no  lakes  of  any  considerable  size,  but 
many  canals  have  been  constructed. 

In  the  Walloon  part  of  the  country,  the  city  of  Liege,  the  scene 
of  the  great  battles  and  siege  in  the  international  conflict,  is  the  cen- 
ter of  great  coal  and  iron  industries,  from  which  this  heretofore  for- 
tunate nation  has  derived  much  of  its  wealth.  The  coal-fields  cover 
an  area  of  five  hundred  square  miles,  and  the  product  averages  about 
24,000,000  tons  a  year,  valued  at  more  than  $60,000,000.  The  shafts 
of  some  of  the  mines  are  three  thousand  six  hundred  feet  deep  in  the 


2S2  COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 

vertical  and  the  comparative  thinness  of  the  seams  and  the  presence 
of  fire-damp  preclude  the  use  of  explosives. 

Among  the  more  important  industries  are  iron  and  steel  and  glass. 
Liege  is  one  of  the  centers  of  the  iron  industry ;  Charleroi  is  another. 

One  of  the  more  important  establishments,  employing  fifteen 
thousand  men,  is  the  John  Cockerill  works,  near  Liege,  where 
coal-mining,  iron  and  steel  metallurgy,  rail  and  structural  steel  manu- 
facturing, foundry  and  machine  shops,  and  even  shipbuilding,  are 
represented. 

There  is  no  country  in  the  world  that  is  not  a  customer  of  Bel- 


Forts  at  Dinant 


gium  for  window  and  plate  glass.  The  factories  are  in  Hainaut,  and 
especially  in  the  vicinity  of  Charleroi.  In  glassware  and  crystal  the 
annual  production  exceeds  130,000,000  pieces.  The  value  of  exports 
of  glass  products  is  $10,000,000  a  year. 

All  manufacturing  and  mining  industries  are  under  the  control 
of  special  departments,  and  the  diamond-cutting  industry  is  very  im- 
portant, most  of  the  finest  grades  of  diamonds  being  cut  in  Antwerp, 
which  ranks  all  other  European  cities  as  a  diamond  market,  its  only 
rival  being  Amsterdam. 

The  making  of  lace  employs  about  45,000  persons,  mostly  women. 
Other  industries  also  are  in  a  flourishing  condition,  and  all  the  world 
knows  of  the  fine  linens  and  cloths  manufactured  in  different  parts  of 
the  country. 

Despite  Belgium's  smallness,  she  ranks  fifth  among  the  nations  in 


BELGIUM 


233 


commerce  and  industries,  and  is  one  of  the  richest  countries  per  capita 
in  the  world.  The  total  imports  are  reported  in  the  last  census  as 
amounting  in  value  to  $900,000,000  in  round  numbers,  and  her  total 
exports  to  $700,000,000.  The  three  important  Belgian  ports  are 
Antwerp,  Ghent,  and  Ostend. 

Previous  to  the  outbreak  of  the  present  international  conflict 


Belgian   Infantry  on  the  Firing-line  at  Tiriemont 


the  Belgian  military  law  (reorganized  on  the  basis  of  personal  service 
in  1909)  fixed  the  terms  of  service  as  fifteen  months  for  infantry, 
fortress,  and  artillery;  twenty-four  months  for  cavalry  and  horse  ar- 
tillery, and  the  period  of  service  up  to  thirty-six  months,  according  to 
station. 

The  German  army,  invading  Belgium  and  the  adjoining  Dutch 
Province  of  Limburg,  is  traveling  in  the  print  of  olden  wars;  it  is 
wading  through  wheat-fields  that  grow  deep  with  many  waterings  of 
blood.  No  land  on  earth  has  been  so  prolific  of  battle-fields ;  for  mod- 
ern Belgium,  the  older  Flanders,  lies  and  always  has  lain  between  the 
greatest  nations  of  Europe.    Partly  because  of  its  geographical  loca- 


SCENE   ON    THE    MEUSE,    SHOWING    THE    BEAUT4F-W- COUNTRY    RAVAGED 

BY   THE  WAR     '         '"";."         "' 

234 


BELGIUM  235 

tion,  partly  because  the  topography  of  the  country  lends  itself  ideally 
to  purposes  of  defense,  Belgium  has  seemed  to  be  fixed  upon  by  mili- 
tary men  as  a  place  in  which  to  fight  their  battles ;  and  when  these  na- 
tions fight,  this  pleasant,  peaceful,  green,  and  busy  land  is  crushed  as 
between  the  upper  and  nether  millstones. 

Historically,  it  all  began  with  Caesar;  but  who  can  tell  how  many 
unchronicled  and  unremembered  battles  of  savage  warriors  were 
fought  in  the  deep  and  mysterious  forests  before  the  dawn  of  civiliza- 


Dynamited  Bridge  Across  the  Meuse,  at  Vise,   Belgium 

tion?  Caesar,  at  any  rate,  found  the  Belgas  already  "the  bravest  of  all 
the  people  of  Gaul";  and  every  schoolboy  has  learned  with  what  bitter 
pains  the  Roman  legions  overcame  the  Nervii  on  this  very  ground.  In 
later  ages  the  struggles  of  east  and  west  were  fought  out  here.  Cour- 
tray  witnessed  the  awful  slaughter  of  the  French  when,  in  1302,  the 
Flemings  hurled  them,  horse  and  men,  into  a  canal  and  butchered 
them  there  without  mercy. 

'No  less  than  six  times  the  town  Of  Maastricht,  in  Limburg,  close 
by  Liege,  in  Belgium,  has  been  the  scene  of  desperate  battles — in 
1579,  in  1632,  in  1673,  in  1748,  in  1794— down  to  1830,  when  the 
Dutch  fought  with  the  Belgians  there.  Namur,  a  little  farther  south, 
which  began  its  recorded  battlings  when  the  Aduatici  withstood  Cse^ar 


LOUVAIN— THE    TOWN     HALL 
This  Fine  Gem  of  IVIedieval  Art  Fortunately  Escaped   Destruction  When  the  Town   Was   Fired 

by  the  Germans 

236 


BELGIUM 


237 


Part  of   Malines   Cathedral,   Riddled   by   German  Shells 


there,  has  seen  battles  between  the  forces  of  ahnost  all  the  neighboring 
powers.  Roulers,  Hasselt,  Turnhout,  Wavre,  Arlon,  Dinant — these 
and  other  places  have  listened  to  the  clash  of  arms  through  the  cen- 
turies, and  many  times  known  the  welter  of  blood. 

Last  of  all,  in  1815,  the  great  and  final  struggle  between  the  war- 
ring power  of  Napoleon  and  the  allied  powers  of  Europe,  under  Well- 
ington and  Bliicher,  was  fought  out  on  this  "dark  and  bloody  ground" 
— at  Wavre,  at  Quatre  Bras,  at  Waterloo.  More  souls  than  all  those 
who  march  with  the  invading  Germans,  or  the  defending  Belgians, 
British,  or  French,  will  swing  across  these  historic  fields;  the  wraiths 
of  ancient  thousands  will  envelop  them. 

Strangest  of  all  things  is  the  fact  that,  in  this  gentler  age  of  the 
world,  the  deep-growing  corn  of  the  Belgian  fields  will  again  be  tram- 
pled by  the  feet  of  armed  and  fighting  men,  and  the  red  currents  will 
once  more  fertilize  the  dark  soil.  In  this  twentieth  century  of  higher 
enlightenment  the  "old,  unhappy,  far-off  things  and  battles  long  ago" 
are  called  into  a  new  and  still  more  terrible  being  by  the  ambitions  of 
men  and  nations. 

In  1914  it  is  the  valiant  Belgians  themselves  who  are  engaged  in 
the  struggle.  Whatever  discussion  there  may  be  of  the  rights  or 
wrongs  of  the  present  war,  certainly  none  can  charge  Belgium  with 


238 


COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 


even  an  intimation  of  wrong.  She  is  stoutly  defending  her  territory 
against  unwarranted  and  unjust  invasion  by  an  armed  power  which 
was  one  of  those  guaranteeing  her  against  such  invasion. 

A  much  traveled  route  from  England  to  Belgium  is  by  way  of 
Dover  to  Calais,  on  the  French  coast,  thence  a  few  miles  north  to 
Ostend,  on  the  North  Sea.     No  watering-place  in  the  world  is  more 


The  War-ravaged   Valley  of  the   Meuse 


celebrated  than  this  fashionable  resort.  Its  charms  are  like  those  of 
Brighton  in  England,  Trouville  in  France,  and  Newport  in  the 
United  States ;  but  in  addition  the  wide  variety  in  the  type  of  its  visi- 
tors renders  it  a  sort  of  human  kaleidoscope-show  of  all  nations,  rep- 
resentations of  which  may  be  seen  every  evening  at  the  Kursaal,  a 
concert-hall  and  ballroom,  and  every  day  while  strolling  on  the 
Digue,  a  stone  dike  a  mile  long  and  twenty-five  feet  high. 

Half  an  hour's  railway  journey  from  Ostend  brings  the  traveler 
to  Bruges,  in  the  Province  of  West  Flanders,  eight  miles  from  the 


:3ELGIUM 


239 


North  Sea,  Some  of  Belgium's  old  dties  have  awakened  and  joined 
the  march  of  the;  world's' progress,  but  ancient  Bruges  remains  ever 
the  same.  The  town  Was  once  a  great  manufacturing  center,  but 
quarrels  between  her  rulers  and  the  manufacturers  led  to  the  down- 
fall of  prosperity.;  In  it§  best  days  it  belonged  to  the  Hanseatic 
League,  a  confederation  of  cjtjes  of  northern  Germany  and  adjoin- 


British  Marines  Marching  Tlirougli  Ostend 

ing  countries  organized  in  1241  for  the  promotion  of  commerce  by 
sea  and  land,  and  for  their  protection  against  pirates,  robbers,  and 
hostile  governments.  But  the  glory  of  the  past  has  not  vanished  from 
the  celebrated  shrines  of  old  Bruges.  The  cathedral,  built  in  the 
twelfth  century,  is  a  beautiful  structure,  and  the  Church  of  Notre 
Dame  is  filled  with  romantic  asfsOciations.  In  the  middle  of  the  city 
stands  the  building  now  used  as- ^  market  and  a  town-hall.  Its  won- 
derful tower,  three  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high,  has  a  belfry  in  which 
hangs  a  chime  of  bells,  made  famous  by  our  poet  Longfellow. 


240  COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 

When  one  visits  the  city  of  Ghent  he  is  on  the  scene  of  many  a 
desperate  fight  of  the  Middle  Ages,  though  in  recent  years  it  has  been 
one  of  the  most  peaceful  and  prosperous  of  towns,  with  numerous 
canals  traversing  it  in  every  direction,  giving  it  an  appearance  that 
suggests  an  unromantic  Venice.  Ghent  is  especially  interesting  to 
Americans  for  the  reason  that,  at  the  close  of  the  War  of  1812-'14 
between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  the  treaty  of  peace 
was  negotiated  and  signed  there. 

The  verj^  ancient  city  of  Antwerp,  the  chief  port  of  the  country, 
is  situated  on  the  Scheldt  River,  and  is  one  of  the  busiest  towns  in  all 
the  busy  land.  Approaching  it  by  water,  one  sees  first  the  superb 
spire  of  Notre  Dame  Cathedral,  begun  in  1422.  It  contains  the 
most  magnificent  set  of  chimes  in  the  world,  composed  of  ninety- 
nine  bells,  the  smallest  of  which  is  the  size  of  a  tea-bell  and  the 
largest  weighs  eight  tons.  The  carving  of  the  spire,  402  feet  high, 
is  a  marvel  of  beauty,  the  designs  in  the  stone  looking  like  delicate 
lace  or  embroidery. 

Historians  say  that  Brussels,  the  gay  capital  city,  was  founded 
in  the  seventh  century,  on  an  island  in  the  river  Senne,  and  that  its 
assemblage  of  huts  was  called  the  hrocksles  ("marsh  dwellings"), 
from  which  name  the  word  Brussels  was  derived.  Its  growth  was 
slow  until  after  the  twelfth  century;  when  the  new  monarchy  was 
formed  it  became  the  seat  of  government  and  the  royal  residence. 

There  are  several  fine  palaces  in  the  capital.  King  Albert  has 
one  overlooking  the  park  and  another  in  the  suburb  of  Lacken. 
The  former  palace  of  the  Prince  of  Orange  is  now  the  Museum  of 
the  Royal  Academy  of  Letters,  Arts,  and  Sciences. 

Few  persons  visit  the  capital  without  making  a  pilgrimage  to 
the  historic  battle-field  of  Waterloo,  fought  on  June  18,  1815.  The 
surroundings  are  not  especially  impressive  or  picturesque,  and  when 
the  traveler  has  ascended  the  Lion's  Mound,  seen  the  relics  in  the 
Museum,  and  gone  over  the  farm  lands  on  which  was  waged  the 
great  battle  that  marked  the  downfall  of  Napoleon  I,  he  has  seen 
all  there  is  to  see.  The  Mound  is  an  odd  structure  erected  by  the 
Belgians  in  memory  of  their  countrymen  that  lent  aid  in  the  battle 
against  Napoleon's  army. 

The  field  still  keeps  its  outhnes.     At  the  left  is  Planchenoit, 


BELGIUM 


241 


where  the  Duke  of  Wellington  watched  to  see  the  smoke  of  the  Prus- 
sian guns.  Opposite  is  the  slope  down  which  D'Erlon's  troops 
marched  to  the  attack  on  La  Haye  Sainte ;  and  on  the  left  also  is  the 
ground  over  which  the  Life  Guards  and  Enniskillens  and  the  Scots 
Greys  galloped  in  their  great  charge.  At  the  right  is  Hougomont, 
the  orchard-walls  of  which  still  show  the  loopholes  made  by  the 
Guards.  Victors  and  vanquished  passed  away  long  ago,  and  from 
that  day,  when  Napoleon's  Old  Guard  broke  on  the  slopes  of  Mont 
St.  Jean,  French  and  British  soldiers  never  have  met  as  enemies  on 


Belgian   Infantry   Resting   Near  Liege 

the  field  of  battle.  Now  they  meet  again,  not  as  enemies,  but  as 
friends  and  allies  to  aid  Belgium  in  resisting  the  invasion  of  her 
territory  by  the  armed  forces  of  the  German  Empire. 

The  only  colonial  possession  of  Belgium  is  the  Belgian  Congo, 
founded  in  1882  by  Leopold  II  as  the  Congo  Independent  State,  and 
annexed  to  Belgium  in  1907.  Its  area  is  estimated  at  909,654  square 
miles  and  its  population  at  15,000,000.  Its  chief  product  is  rubber, 
which  it  exported  in  1912  to  the  value  of  over  $17,500,000.  Ivory, 
copal  and  gold  are  also  important  products.  The  seat  of  government 
is  at  Boma. 


RAYMOND    POINCARE 

President  of  the  French  Republic  Since  January  17,  1913.     Born  In    Bar-le-Duc,  August  20,  1860. 

Represented  the  Department  of  the  IVieuse  In  the  Senate.     Was  IVIinister  of  Public 

Education  In   1893  and  1895;   Minister  of  Finance,  1894  and  1906; 

and  Premier  of  France,  1911-1913 

242 


FRANCE 


243 


i^BLcf'^  {jH 

r^ 

rFii^lii&iWW 

4^  ■             ♦ 

4   'Jr;-v' 

Trumpeters   in   Advance  of  a   French  Regiment 


France. — France  gives  much  character  to  the  map.  If  it  were 
not  for  the  wedge  called  Brittany  that  projects  into  the  Atlantic,  the 
country  would  be  almost  a  square.  France  is  separated  from  her 
neighbors  by  strong  natural  boundaries.  On  the  west  the  coast  is 
washed  by  the  Bay  of  Biscay  and  the  Atlantic;  on  the  north  the 
English  Channel  and  the  Strait  of  Dover  guard  her  from  Great 
Britain;  on  the  south  the  high  and  rugged  Pyrenees  form  a  bulwark 
against  Spain ;  and  beyond  them  the  Mediterranean  carries  along  the 
line  of  natural  defense.  The  southeast  is  protected  from  Italy  by 
the  Alps;  and  the  Jura  and  the  Vosges  form  a  snowy  wall  cutting 
off  Switzerland.  The  boundary  line  on  the  side  of  Belgium  is  the 
only  one  that  nature  has  left  unprotected. 

The  superficial  area  of  France  is  estimated  at  207,054  square 
miles — smaller  than  Texas.  The  coast  line  is  3,250  miles  long.  The 
department  of  Seine-In ferieure,  from  Havre  to  Dieppe,  shows  high 
chalk  cliffs  like  those  of  the  southern  shore  of  England.  The  irregu- 
lar western  coast,  from  Pointe  Saint-Mathieu  at  the  end  of  Brittany 
to  the  Gironde,  is  broken  by  many  bays  and  the  mouths  of  the  Loire 


M4i 


FRANCE 


M5 


and  Gironde,  while  the  low,  sandy  shore  of  La  Vendee  is  fringed  with 
small  islands.  South  of  the  Gironde  and  the  Garonne  stretch  sand 
dunes  and  behind  them  the  celebrated  "Landes,"  or  marshes. 

The  Pyrenees  range  is  two  hundred  and  seventy  miles  long  and 
varies  in  width  from  ninety  miles  to  about  twenty-five  at  the  Mediter- 
ranean extremity.  The  formation  is  an  almost  continuous  knife- 
ridged  arete ^  broken  by  elevated  passes  (locally  called  ports).  The 
highest  peaks  are  on  the  great  transverse  ridges  at  right  angles  to  the 


President  Poincare  Inspecting  a  Heavy  Siege-gun 


chain.  The  transverse  valleys  between  these  vast  buttresses  form  the 
most  characteristic  feature  of  the  Pyrenees.  The  great  gullies,  called 
cirques,  running  into  the  chain  and  inclosed  on  all  sides  by  towering 
crags,  are  a  phenomenon  almost  peculiar  to  this  chain.  Numerous 
transverse  valleys  form  deep  ravines,  at  the  bottom  of  which  gush  the 
mountain-torrents  called  gaves.  Wild  and  wonderful,  with  sharp 
snowy  peaks,  and  strange  valleys  thrown  off  like  the  fronds  of  a  fern 
on  both  sides  of  the  chain,  the  Pyrenees  form  a  great  contrast  to  the 
Alps.  The  limit  of  perpetual  snow  is  nine  thousand  feet,  about  two 
thousand  feet  higher  than  that  of  the  Alps ;  and  the  limit  of  vegeta- 
tion is  about  five  hundred  feet  higher  than  that  of  the  Alps.     The 


J 

4 

='^  "^  '  J 

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i 

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246 


FRANCE  247 

slopes  are  magnificently  wooded  with  forests  of  box,  fir,  pine,  and, 
on  the  lower  elevations,  evergreen  oak.  In  the  Pyrenees- Orientales 
Mont  Canigou  (9,137  feet),  in  an  offshoot  of  the  Pyrenees,  called 
Corbieres,  stands  out  from  the  plain  with  great  distinctness,  remark- 
able as  showing  its  zones  of  vegetation:  first,  orange,  aloe,  oleander, 
olive,  and  pomegranate;  then,  the  vine;  then,  the  chestnut,  rhododen- 
dron, pine,  and  birch;  and  lastly,  the  stunted  junipers  reaching  to 
the  summit. 

On  the  south  the  Mediterranean  coast,  sweeping  boldly  from  the 
Pyrenees  to  the  Maritime  Alps,  is  very  rocky  on  the  extreme  west,  but 
becomes  low  and  sandy,  enclosing  several  lagoons.  About  the  mid- 
dle of  the  curve  the  Rhone  enters  the  sea  by  various  mouths.  East  of 
this  delta  the  coast  is  broken  by  capes  and  promontories  which  leave 
between  them  and  the  shore  a  narrow  riviera,  broken  by  the  harbors 
of  Marseilles,  Toulon,  Cannes,  and  Nice.  A  few  islands  mark  the 
line  of  the  ancient  coast. 

On  the  eastern  boundary  are  the  Alps  of  Provence;  the  Alps  of 
Dauphine,  the  Maritime  Alps,  the  Cottian  Alps,  the  mountains  of 
Maurienne,  containing  Mont  Cenis,  pierced  by  the  first  tunnel 
(opened  in  1871) ;  the  Graian  Alps,  and  the  Pennine  Alps,  famous 
for  Mont  Blanc  (15,782  feet),  the  highest  mountain  in  Europe. 
Here  is  the  celebrated  Chamouni  and  the  Hospice  of  St.  Bernard. 
Interrupted  by  the  valley  of  the  Rhone,  the  line  of  mountains  is  con- 
tinued by  the  Jura  range,  a  chain  extending  between  the  Rhine  and 
the  Rhone  from  northeast  to  southwest.  Gradually  they  bend  to  the 
east  and  run  into  Switzerland,  reaching  their  greatest  height  there  and 
on  the  French  frontier.  Politically  the  Jura  is  French  and  Swiss, 
but  at  its  northern  extremity  it  takes  in  a  small  piece  of  Alsace. 

The  northern  face  of  the  Jura  dominates  the  famous  Trouee,  or 
trench,  of  Belfort.  This  is  one  of  the  great  geographical  centers 
of  Europe,  for  here  routes  run  southwest  into  France  and  to  the 
Mediterranean;  southeast  to  the  Danube  basin  and  the  Black  Sea; 
and  north  down  the  Rhine  to  the  North  Sea.  The  great  central  pla- 
teau of  the  Jura  is,  therefore,  a  network  of  roads  and  railways.  It 
is  a  place  of  vast  strategical  importance,  and  is  strongly  fortified. 
On  the  other  side  the  Jura  overhangs  the  Trouee  of  the  Black  Forest 
towns  on  the  Rhine,  through  which  Switzerland  may  be  gained.     On 


248  COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 

this  slope  are  two  openings — the  Valley  of  the  Doubs,  which  belongs 
to  France,  and  the  valley  of  the  Birs,  which  belongs  to  Switzerland. 
Belfort  is  the  military  center  of  this  district,  Miilhausen  the  indus- 
trial, and  Basel  the  commercial. 

Most  of  the  neighboring  country  was  held  by  the  House  of  Savoy 
until  it  was  gradually  annexed  by  Bern.  The  Chasseron  (5,286 
feet)  is  the  central  point,  commanding  the  two  great  railways  that 
unite  Neuchatel  and  Pontarlier.  Dole  is  the  only  important  town  of 
the  central  Saone  basin.  South  of  the  Val  d'Orbe  the  rocky  wall 
uplifts  the  highest  peaks  of  the  Jura.  Here,  too,  run  the  great  roads 
of  the  Col  de  St.  Cergnes  (4,159  feet)  and  the  Col  de  la  Fancille 
(4,314  feet),  the  latter  leading  through  the  Vallee  des  Dappes,  which 
was  divided  between  France  and  Switzerland  after  many  negotiations. 

On  the  south  the  Jura  stretches  out  toward  the  great  mass  of  the 
Dauphine  Alps;  and,  as  it  commands  the  routes  from  France  into 
Germany,  Switzerland,  and  Italy,  it  has  always  been  of  extreme  his- 
toric importance.  The  three  chief  rivers  of  the  Jura — the  Doubs, 
the  Loue  and  the  Ain — ^flow  through  deep  gorges.  On  the  plateau 
between  the  Doubs  and  the  Aar,  several  picturesque  towns  are  situ- 
ated, such  as  Locle  and  La  Chaux  de  Fonds,  where  watchmaking  is 
the  chief  industry.  This  is  also  the  chief  occupation  of  Besan9on, 
which  is  situated  on  the  plateau  north  of  the  Loue.  South  of  Besan- 
9on  lies  the  Pontarlier  Plateau,  of  immense  strategical  and  commer- 
cial importance,  because  here  roads  converge  from  every  direction. 
The  keys  to  this  important  plateau  are  the  Fort  de  Joux  (east),  un- 
der the  walls  of  which  meet  the  two  railway  lines  from  Neuchatel  and 
S alius  (west),  the  meeting-place  of  the  routes  from  the  Col  de  la 
Fancille,  from  Besan9on  and  from  the  French  plain. 

On  the  southern  edge  of  the  Pontarlier  Plateau  are  two  points  of 
great  military  importance :  Nozeroy  and  Champagnole.  The  latter  is 
especially  important,  because  the  road  that  leads  from  Champagnole 
to  Geneva  traverses  the  chief  valleys  that  run  down  into  the  South 
Jura  and  thus  command  the  southern  routes.  It  also  commands  those 
from  Geneva  by  St.  Cergnes  and  the  Col  de  la  Fancille  and  a  branch 
road  from  Jougne,  running  beside  the  river  Orbe.  The  Fort  of  Les 
Rousses,  near  the  foot  of  the  D61e,  serves  as  an  advanced  post  to 
Champagnole,  just  as  the  Fort  de  Joux  serves  Pontarlier, 


FRANCE 


24f9 


Far  more  complicated  is  the  southern  part  of  the  Jura,  intersected 
also  by  a  network  of  roads — the  valleys  of  the  Valouse  and  of  the 
Surand  cut  through  the  plateaus  west  of  the  Ain,  the  chief  river. 
The  Ain  receives  three  tributaries  from  the  east:  the  Albarine;  the 
Oignon,  which  drains  the  lake  of  Nantua  (the  town  of  Nantua  is 
noted  for  its  silks  and  combs ) ,  and  the  Bienne,  which  flows  from  the 
foot  of  Les  Rousses  by  St.  Claude,  the  industrial  center  of  the  South 
Jura,  noted  for  its  toys  made  from  the  boxwood  so  plentiful  in  this 


A  Company  of  French   Infantry 


neighborhood.  Watches  and  spectacles  are  made  at  Morez,  and  gems 
are  cut  at  Septmoncel. 

Important  railways  traverse  the  gorges  or  cluses  of  Nantua 
and  Virieu  and  make  the  saying  even  truer  than  of  old  that  the  keys 
of  the  South  Jura  are  Lyons  and  Geneva.  The  gorges,  however,  can 
be  turned  by  following  the  Rhone  in  its  great  bend  to  the  south. 

The  eastern  and  western  faces  are  pierced  by  many  transverse 
gorges,  or  "cluses,"  by  which  access  is  gained  to  the  great  central 
plateau  of  Pontarlier.  On  the  east  side  Neuchatel  commands  all  the 
routes  on  the  west  side.  Besan^on  is  the  chief  military  center,  and, 
moreover,  has  to  defend  the  route  from  Bel  fort  down  the  Doubs. 
This,  in  medieval  times,  was  a  part  of  the  great  duchy  of  Burgundy, 


THE  WAR  CHIEFS  OF  FRANCE 


R6ne   Viviani,   Premier  of   France 


General  Pau,  Commanding  in  Alsace 


General  Joffre,  Commander-in-chief  General  Gallieni,  Military  Governor  of  Paris 

250 


FRANCE  251 

which  rivaled  the  Crown  of  France,  until  its  power  was  broken  at 
the  battle  of  Nancy,  where  Charles  the  Bold  fell  in  1477.  Lorraine 
was  then  subjugated. 

The  gap  at  Belfort  separates  the  Jura  from  the  Vosges,  now  a 
part  of  the  French  frontier.  Their  eastern  slopes  front  upon  Alsace, 
and  their  southern  portion  from  the  Ballon  d' Alsace  to  Mont  Donon, 
forms  the  boundary  between  France  and  Germany.  There  is  much 
similarity  between  the  Vosges  and  the  corresponding  range  of  the 
Black  Forest  on  the  other  side  of  the  Rhine.  Both  have  a  steep  fall 
to  the  Rhine,  and  both  decline  gently  on  the  other  side.  There  are 
four  sections — the  Grandes  Vosg^,  the  Central  Vosges,  the  Lower 
Vosges,  and  the  Hardt.  The  JBOunded  summits  of  the  Grandes 
Vosges  are  called  "ballons."  Th&Depiartments  of  Vosges  and  Haute 
Saone  are  divided  from  Alsace  ^li  Belfort  by  the  Ballon  d' Alsace,  or 
St.  Maurice  (4,100  feet).  Northward  the  Grandes  Vosges  extend, 
averaging  3,000  feet,  and  reach  their  greatest  height  in  the  Ballon  de 
Guebwiller,  or  Soultz  (4,680  feet).  Their  ramifications  are  the  hills 
of  Belfort,  the  Monts  Fancilles.  The  railway  from  Paris  to  Strass- 
burg,  and  the  Rhine-and-Marne  Canal  traverse  the  Col  de  Saverne 
(1,085  feet).  The  Lower  Vosges  forms  a  plateau,  which  is  defended 
by  the  fort  of  Bitchie.  The  Hardt  is  sterile,  and  is  covered  with 
heath  and  brushwood.  Through  deep  ravines  railways  run  from  Deux- 
Ponts  to  Landau  and  from  Kaiserslantern  to  Spires  and  Worms. 

On  the  eastern  slope  the  111  is  the  chief  river,  which  has  a  rapid  fall, 
but  is  not  an  abundant  stream.  On  the  Lorraine  side  rise  the  Moselle, 
to  enter  the  Rhine,  and  the  Meurthe  and  the  Saar,  to  enter  the  Mo- 
selle. The  scenery  is  both  noble  and  charming.  There  are  high 
peaks  with  wooded  slopes,  moraines,  and  boulders;  numerous  lakes 
surrounded  by  pines,  maples,  and  beeches ;  green  meadows,  where  hun- 
dreds of  cows  with  tinkling  bells  graze  peacefully;  and  quaint  houses 
and  churches,  many  of  great  age.  Extended  views  of  the  Rhine  Val- 
ley and  the  Black  Forest,  with  the  distant  snowy  Alps  for  a  frame, 
add  to  the  traveler's  delight  and  make  him  sympathize  with  the  in- 
tense love  of  the  natives  for  their  beautiful  country.  On  the  Alsa- 
tian side  the  mountain  slopes  are  dotted  with  ancient  castles,  many 
of  which  are  in  ruins,  and  all  of  which  are  noted  for  their  romantic 
legends  and  historical  stories.  , 


1.  Opera   House. 
6.   Madeleine. 


NOTABLE    BUILDINGS    IN    PARIS 
2.   Trocad^ro.     3.    Palais  de  Justice.      4.    He  de   la   Cit£.      5.    Luxemburg. 
7.   Invalldes.   8.   Notre  Dame.    9.   Pantheon.    10.   Hotel  de  Ville. 


11.  Mus6e  de  Cluny 

^52 


FRANCE  253 

On  the  northeast  boundary  lie  Luxemburg,  Namur,  Hainault, 
and  West  Flanders.  The  important  towns  near  the  borders  are 
Nancy,  Metz,  Sedan,  and  Lille.  Calais,  in  the  Pas  de  Calais,  is  only 
twenty-six  miles  from  Dover  in  England. 

Calais  entered  the  Hanseatic  League  in  1303,  and,  in  1347,  after 
a  heroic  defense,  was  taken  by  Edward  III.  Edward  blockaded  the 
port  and  starved  the  town  into  surrender.  Calais  then  remained  in 
the  hands  of  the  English  for  two  hundred  years,  during  which  it 
became  an  important  mart  for  English  traders.  In  1558  the  Duke 
of  Guise  with  30,000  men  expelled  the  English,  after  a  siege  of  seven 
days.  Queen  Mary  felt  its  loss  so  keenly  that  she  said  after  her 
death  the  name  Calais  would  be  found  engraven  on  her  heart.  In 
1561  Mary  Stuart  sailed  from  Calais  to  take  the  Scottish  crown,  bid- 
ding farewell  in  a  touching  poem  to  its  receding  shore.  The  Span- 
iards captured  Calais  in  1596;  but  the  Treaty  of  Verduns  (1598)  re- 
stored it  permanently  to  France.  Through  Calais  the  English  troops 
passed  during  the  Hundred  Years'  War  (1337-1453),  when  Cre9y 
(1346),  Poitiers  (1356),  and  Agincourt  (1415)  were  won  by  the 
English,  and  during  the  siege  of  Orleans,  when  Jeanne  d'Arc  was 
put  to  death  in  Rouen  (1431) . 

The  quick  eye  of  a  bird  viewing  France  would  see  a  country  re- 
markable for  its  beautiful  and  diversified  scenery.  La  belle  France 
consists  of  mountainous  districts  with  high  peaks  crowned  with  snow, 
thick  forests  abounding  in  rare  plants,  noble  rivers  flowing  through 
deep  gorges;  dashing  waterfalls;  coasts  with  jagged  rocks  wreathed 
in  violet  mists  and  encircled  by  seagulls ;  sandy  shores ;  low  plains  with 
long  lines  of  poplars;  smiling  meadow  lands  sprinkled  with  ancient 
abbeys;  magnificent  cathedrals;  exquisite  chateaux  of  the  Renais- 
sance period;  interesting  old  towns  that  transport  the  dreamer  into 
the  Middle  Ages;  and  tiny  villages,  where  the  life  is  simple  and  the 
architecture  quaint. 

No  country  offers  more  wonderful  architecture.  Ruskin  called 
the  abbey  church  of  St.  Ouen,  in  Rouen,  "the  most  beautiful  speci- 
men of  Gothic  in  the  world,"  and  critics  agree  that  Chartres,  with  its 
marvelous  glass,  is  the  most  glorious  of  all  cathedrals.  The  cathe- 
drals of  Amiens,  Beauvais,  Bayeux,  Notre  Dame  of  Paris,  Notre 
Dame  of  Rheims,  Laon,  Sens,  Tours,  and  Rouen,  the  Palais  de  Jus- 


254 


COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 


tice  in  Rouen,  the  house  of  Jacques  Coeur  in  Bourges,  the  chateaux 
of  Chantilly,  Chinon,  Loches,  Amboise,  Blois,  and  Fontainebleau,  and 
the  Papal  Palace  at  Avignon  head  a  long  list  of  architectural  gems 
from  the  Twelfth  Century  to  the  Renaissance.  Beautiful  forests 
cover  about  one  sixth  of  the  country.  Lower  Normandy  contains 
several  of  considerable  extent.  Compiegne,  near  Pierrefonds,  was 
the  favorite  hunting-ground  of  the  kings  of  France  and  is  often  men- 
tioned by  Froissart.  The  Merovingian  kings  had  a  palace  here. 
Fontainebleau,  forty-five  miles  from  Paris,  covering  sixty-five  square 


ent  of  French  Zouaves 


miles,  is  famous ;  and  one  of  its  villages,  Barbizon,  has  given  its  name 
to  a  school  of  landscape  painters.  A  larger  forest  lies  north  of  the 
Loire,  near  Orleans;  and  Ardennes  and  the  tract  bordering  Switzer- 
land abound  in  dense  woods.  The  scenery  of  the  CeVennes  is  full  of 
interest  and  beauty. 

The  Ardennes  have  been  a  bulwark  of  defense,  invasions  having 
come  east  through  the  valley  of  the  Moselle,  and  west  through  that  of 
the  Oise  and  by  the  plains  of  Flanders. 

France  offers  noble  and  beautiful  river  scenery.  The  Rhone,  in 
its  course  of  five  hundred  miles,  discharging  the  snows  of  St.  Goth- 
ard  into  the  Gulf  of  Lyons,  has  a  curious  course.  It  is  joined  by  the 
Saone  at  Lyons  and  ends  in  a  fan-like  delta;  the  winding  course  of 
the  Seine,  which,  with  its  many  historic  bridges,  is  one  of  the  attrac- 


FRANCE  255 

tions  of  Paris,  enters  the  English  Channel  by  a  wide  estuary  on  which 
stand  the  ports  of  Honfleur,  Harfleur,  and  Havre.  The  Garonne, 
rising  in  the  Pyrenees,  flows  past  Toulouse  and  into  the  Bay  of  Bis- 
cay after  leaving  Bordeaux.  Perhaps  of  all  French  rivers  the  Loire 
is  the  most  famous.  It  is  the  longest  (620  miles),  and  in  its  course 
from  the  Cevennes  to  the  Bay  of  Biscay  it  flows  through  Touraine, 
"the  garden  of  France."  The  Loire  and  its  tributaries  are  famous 
for  their  ancient  castles  and  modern  mansions.  At  Tours  the  scenery 
is  entrancing.  The  riverside  meadows,  of  brightest  emerald,  are 
broken  by  trees  and  winding  roads;  vineyards  spread  out  a  sea  of 
green  and  purple  grapes;  tiny  cottages  stand  in  tiny  gardens  bright 
with  flowers  and  ripening  peaches — a  quiet,  peaceful,  sylvan  land- 
scape. Blois,  with  its  noble  castle,  is  famed  for  its  lilacs.  The  val- 
ley of  the  JNIarne  with  its  pretty  rivers  and  winding  canals,  undulating 
pastures,  wheatfields,  woods,  vineyards,  orchards,  gardens,  and  vil- 
lages has  furnished  many  subjects  for  the  pictures  of  Corot,  Millet, 
and  Daubigny. 

Traveling  northwest,  we  pass  Dieppe;  Maintes;  the  ruins  of 
Richard  Coeur  de  Lion's  Chateau  Gaillard;  Rouen,  with  its  glorious 
Gothic  buildings ;  Fecamp ;  Le  Havre ;  Anet ;  Evreux ;  Falaise ;  Caen ; 
Bayeux;  Cherbourg;  St.  Malo;  Chartres;  Le  Mans;  Rennes;  Mor- 
leix;  Brest;  Dinan;  Quimper;  Carnac,  with  its  curious  stones  of  Dru- 
idical  times ;  picturesque  Mont*St.  Michel  perched  on  its  rock ;  Douar- 
enez,  famed  for  its  legends  of  Tristan  and  Yseult  and  also  its  more 
prosaic  sardines;  and  Ploermel,  near  which  is  the  Forest  of  Broce- 
liande,  with  the  magic  fountain  of  Baranton,  the  Vol  sans  retour,  and 
the  Tomb  of  JVIerlin.  Thus  Normandy  and  Brittany  present  much 
to  charm  the  lover  of  scenery  and  romance. 

Southwest  we  enter  the  valley  of  the  Loire  with  the  castles  of 
Blois,  Amboise,  Loches,  Chinon,  Saumur,  Chambord  and  Chenon- 
ceaux;  pass  Orleans,  Angers,  Nantes,  Bordeaux,  La  Rochelle,  Li- 
moges, Toulouse,  Carcassonne,  Narbonne,  Perpignan,  Aignes-Mortes 
(the  most  perfect  circle  of  medieval  fortifications  in  existence,  built 
by  Philip  the  Bold  in  the  Fourteenth  Century)  ;  and  finally  reach  Pau, 
Lourdes,  and  Biarritz  in  the  Basse-Pyrenees. 

Northeast  lies  the  valley  of  the  Marne ;  Nancy,  the  ancient  capital 
of  the  Duchy  of  Lorraine,  associated  with  Charles  the  Bold;  Laon, 


SCENE     IN     BORDEAUX 
As  the  German  Invasion  Approached  Paris  the  Seat  of  Government  Was  Temporarily 

Moved  to  Bordeaux 

256 


FRANCE  257 

with  its  many-towered  cathedral  on  the  rock;  Rheims,  with  its  glori- 
ous Notre  Dame,  where  Jeanne  d'Arc  crowned  Charles  VII,  and 
Domremy  on  the  Meuse,  where  her  little  house  is  still  standing ;  Lille, 
once  the  capital  of  French  Flanders,  which  capitulated  to  Louis  XIV 
in  1667;  Arras,  the  capital  of  Artois,  famed  for  its  tapestry;  Sedan, 
with  its  battle-field  of  1870;  Douai;  Cambrai;  the  lovely  valleys  of  the 
Moselle;  and  the  Rhine  country  so  delightfully  described  by  Victor 
Hugo. 

From  Paris  on  the  Seine  we  pass  southeast  to  Fontainebleau ; 
Moret;  Sens;  Dijon;  Citeaux;  Cluny;  Lyons;  Nemours;  Bourges; 
beautiful  Puy  de  Dome,  the  most  conspicuous  of  seventy  volcanic 
cones  that  rise  from  the  high  upland;  Dole;  Besan9on;  Nantua;  Belle- 
garde,  where  the  Rhone  suddenly  disappears;  Chamouni  and  Mont 
Blanc;  Aix-les-Bains;  Le  Grande  Chartreuse;  Avignon,  the  old  seat 
of  the  Papacy ;  Tarascon ;  Aries,  with  its  forum ;  Nimes ;  Grenoble  in 
the  high  Alps;  Aix,  the  ancient  capital  of  Provence;  Toulon,  Mar- 
seilles, France's  greatest  seaport ;  Hyeres ;  Cannes,  and  Nice. 

Prior  to  1790  France  was  divided  into  thirty-two  great  and  eight 
small  military  provinces.  The  old  divisions  are  so  important  to  the 
lover  of  literature  and  the  historian  that  the  American  and  English 
reader  thinks  of  France  by  these 'more  descriptive  names  rather  than 
by  those  of  the  modern  departmentiS. 

After  Charles  Martel  stopped  at  Tours  (732),  the  invasion  of  the 
Arabs,  who  threatened  to  overrun  Europe,  he  extended  the  frontier 
of  the  Prankish  power  in  the  north  and  east  by  the  conquest  of  Fri- 
sia.  Saxony,  and  Swabia.  His  successor,  Pepin  (741-768),  entered 
Italy,  broke  the  Lombard  power,  which  threatened  to  destroj^  the  in- 
dependence of  the  papacy;  and  granted  to  the  pope  territories  that 
formed  the  beginning  of  the  Papal  States.  Pepin's  son,  Charle- 
magne (768-814) ,  brought  Germany  into  the  circle  of  European  civi- 
lization. With  him  the  construction  of  the  modern  world  began.  On 
the  appeal  of  the  pope  he  conquered  Lombardy,  broke  the  Saxon 
power,  and  incorporated  it  in  his  dominions.  He  also  conquered  Ba- 
varia, the  Slavs  on  the  Baltic,  the  Hungarians,  and  the  Mohamme- 
dans of  Spain.  On  Christmas  Day,  800,  Leo  III  crowned  him  in  St. 
Peter's,  Rome,  and  thereafter  Charlemagne  styled  himself  "Emperor 
of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire."     In  843  the  Treaty  of  Verdun  parti- 


^58 


COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 


tioned  Charlemagne's  great  empire  among  three  claimants.  Charles 
had  the  west  (now  France) ;  and  Louis,  the  east  (now  Germany). 
Between  them  was  the  middle  kingdom  of  Lotharingia  (Lorraine). 
In  885  the  Northmen  began  to  make  inroads.  They  took  Rouen, 
Bordeaux  and  Aix-la-Chapelle.     The  monarchy  gradually  decayed 


French  Infantry   Blocking  a  Road  to  Paris 


and  the  feudal  powers  of  the  great  nobles  developed.  In  987  a  mem- 
ber of  one  of  these  families,  Hugh  Capet,  seized  the  throne  (987-996) 
and  began  a  new  dynasty. 

Louis  VI  (1108-1137)  united  the  Duchy  of  Aquitaine  to  the 
crown  and  strengthened  the  monarchy  against  the  feudal  nobles;  but 
a  blow  was  inflicted  on  the  monarchy  by  Louis  VII  (1137-1180) 
when  he  divorced  his  wife,  Eleanor  of  Aquitaine,  and  allowed  her  to 
marry  Henry  II  of  England.  By  this  marriage  England  became 
possessor  of  many  French  provinces. 


FRANCE 


259 


Philip  Augustus  (1180-1223),  one  of  the  chief  founders  of  the 
French  monarchy,  by  diplomacy  and  hard  fighting  at  the  Battle  of 
Bouvines  (1214),  expelled  the  English  from  Brittany,  Normandy, 
Maine,  Anjbu,  Touraine,  and  most  of  Poitou. 

In  the  reign  of  Louis  IX  (1226-1270)  smiling  Languedoc,  which 


Members  of  the  19th  Algerian  Corps — France's  Terrible  "Turcos" 


had  been  devastated  by  the  Albigensian  wars,  was  annexed  to  the 
crown  of  France. 

In  the  reign  of  PhiHp  III  "the  Bold"  (1270-1285)  the  rich  dis- 
trict of  Flanders  was  added  in  1300;  but  the  Flemings  rebelled  and 
gained  a  victory  at  Courtrai,  known  as  "the  battle  of  the  spurs." 
Then  Philip  had  to  abandon  the  lands  beyond  the  Scheldt.  After  the 
death  in  quick  succession  of  Philip's  three  sons,  who  all  died  without 
male  heirs,  Edward  III  of  England  claimed  the  throne  as  the  son  of 
Isabella,  daughter  of  Philip  IV.  This  occasioned  the  Hundred 
Years' War  (1337-1453). 


^60 


FRANCE 


261 


After  France  had  been  torn  by  internal  strife  between  the  Bur- 
gundians  and  the  Orleanists,  and  Henry  IV  of  England  had  won 
Agincourt  (1415),  France  became  mistress  of  her  own  dominions. 
The  English  were  driven  out  of  Normandy  and  Bordeaux;  and  in 


French    Motor-trucks  for  the   Transport   of  Aeroplanes 


1439  the  States-General  granted  to  the  monarchy  a  tax  to  maintain 
a  standing  army. 

Louis  XI  (1461-1483)  crushed  the  great  nobles  and  strengthened 
the  monarchy.  The  chief  incident  of  his  reign  was  the  long  struggle 
with  Charles  the  Bold,  Duke  of  Burgundy,  whose  great  possessions 
made  him  ruler  over  a  district  corresponding  to  the  old  Kingdom  of 
Lotharingia  as  defined  by  the  Treaty  of  Verdun.  The  Burgundian 
power  was  broken  in  its  attack  on  the  Swiss  Confederacy,  and  Charles 
the  Bold  fell  on  the  battle-field  of  Nancy  (1477). 


RHEIMS  CATHEDRAL 
Wrecked  by  German  shells.     The  scaffolding  shown  in  the  picture  was  standing  at  the  time  of 

the  bombardment  and  took  fire 

262 


FRANCE  263 

Charles  VIII  (1483-1498),  marrying"  Anne  of  Brittany,  brought 
that  province  under  the  crown  in  1491.  Francis  I  raised  the  prestige 
of  France  in  the  Battle  of  Marignano  (1515) .  Calais  was  lost  to  the 
Spanish  in  1596  and  was  recovered  in  1598.  The  religious  wars, 
which  lasted  thirty  years,  began  in  1562.  With  Henry  of  Navarre 
(1594-1610)  the  Bourbon  dynasty  began.  He  was  successful  in 
beating  down  the  power  of  the  nobility,  aided  by  his  minister.  Sully. 
His  great  act  was  the  Edict  of  Nantes  (1598)  granting  religious 
toleration  to  the  Huguenots. 

During  the  reign  of  Louis  XIII  (1610-1643),  his  minister, 
Richelieu,  pursued  his  aims  by  centralizing  and  unifying  all  France 
under  the  crown  and  by  establishing  France  as  the  dominant  power  in 
Europe,  fighting  hard  against  the  allied  houses  of  Spain  and  Austria. 
The  magnificent  reign  of  Louis  XIV  (1643-1715)  was  largely  the 
result  of  the  Cardinal's  action.  As  a  result  of  Richelieu's  policy, 
France  became  engaged  in  two  wars  against  Austria  and  Spain. 
Mazarin  proved  to  be  a  worthy  successor  to  Richelieu.  Conde  broke 
the  Spanish  infantry  in  the  great  battle  of  Rocroy  in  the  Low  Coun- 
tries (1643)  and  gained  a  victory  at  Freiburg  on  the  Upper  Rhine 
(1644).  Turenne  invaded  Bavaria  in  1646.  The  Thirty  Years' 
War  was  ended  by  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  (1648) ,  by  which  France 
gained  greatly.  Her  claim  to  Metz,  Toul,  and  Verdun  was  recog- 
nized, and  Alsace  was  added  to  her  possessions.  Mazarin  called  on 
Cromwell  for  aid,  and  the  English  and  French  entered  Spain.  The 
Spaniards  were  defeated  at  the  Battle  of  the  Dunes  (1658)  and  the 
Peace  of  the  Pyrenees  was  signed  (1659),  Spain  ceding  territory  on 
the  northern  frontier  of  France.  In  1665  Louis  claimed  certain  por- 
tions of  the  Spanish  Netherlands  as  his  inheritance  and  secured  a 
small  strip  of  land  by  the  Treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  (1668) .  By  the 
Peace  of  Nemiguen  (1678)  France  gained  Franche  Comte  from 
Spain.  Large  districts  on  the  eastern  frontier,  including  Strassburg, 
were  annexed. 

France  was  now  the  dominating  power  in  Europe.  She  became 
stronger  when  Charles  II  of  Spain,  in  1700,  gave  by  will  his  Spanish 
possessions  to  Louis  XIV.  This  brought  about  the  War  of  the 
Spanish  Succession.  The  other  European  nations  formed  a  great 
coalition.     England  sent  Marlborough  to  the  Continent  to  cooperate 


264  COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 

with  Prince  Eugene  of  the  House  of  Savoy,  and  the  allies  proved  vic- 
torious in  the  battle  of  Blenheim  (1704).  Other  important  engage- 
ments were:  Ramillies  (1706),  Oudenarde  (1708),  and  Malplaquet 
(1709),  all  defeats  for  the  French.  Peace  was  signed  in  Utrecht  in 
1713. 

In  the  reign  of  Louis  XV  (1715-1774)  the  War  of  the  Pohsh 


Dogs  Trained  by  French  Hospital  Corps  to  Hunt  for  Wounded  Soldiers 

Succession  was  undertaken  in  1733.  France  was  defeated;  but  by 
the  Peace  of  Vienna  (1738)  Lorraine  was  converted  into  a  recog- 
nized and  legal  power.  Then  came  the  War  of  the  Austrian  Suc- 
cession, in  which  France,  in  alliance  with  Frederick  of  Prussia,  fought 
against  Maria  Theresa  of  Austria  and  England.  In  1745  the  French 
won  Fontenoy  and  in  1747  Laffeldt.  Thus  the  French  gained  pos- 
session of  Holland  and  the  Netherlands.  Next  followed  the  peace  of 
Aix-la-Chapelle  (1748),  and  in  1756  the  Seven  Years'  War,  humiliat- 
ing to  France,  for  the  English  triumphed  in  India  and  America. 
The  monarchy  fell  in  the  days  of  Louis  XVI  (1774-1792)  and 


FRANCE  265 

France  passed  through  many  and  violent  changes.  The  opening  of 
the  States-General  (May,  1789)  marks  the  beginning  of  the  French 
Revolution.  In  1791  its  name  was  changed  to  the  National  Assem- 
bly and  later  to  the  Constitutional  Assembly.  Feudalism  was  abol- 
ished; the  church  was  put  under  control  of  the  state  and  its  property 
was  confiscated;  and  France  was  divided  into  departments,  the  old 
provinces  being  abolished. 

The  outbreak  of  a  great  war  against  Prussia  and  the  empire  was 
one  of  the  contributory  causes  of  the  Reign  of  Terror.  In  1792  war 
was  declared  against  Austria.  Prussia  joined  Austria,  and  on  Sep- 
tember 20  Kellermann  and  Dumouriez  won  a  great  victory  for  the 
French  at  Valmy. 

Napoleon  began  his  career  in  the  year  1794,  and  carried  the  French 
arms  into  every  part  of  Europe.  He  also  entered  Egypt,  having  an 
ambition  to  subjugate  India. 

On  the  establishment  of  the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine  (July 
12,  1806),  the  emperor  was  forced  to  surrender  the  title  which  his 
family  had  held  for  five  hundred  years,  and  now  took  the  title  of 
Francis  I,  Emperor  of  Austria.  The  great  Holy  Roman  Empire, 
which  had  existed  for  five  hundred  years,  was  ended.  In  1806-1808 
Napoleon  gathered  in  so  many  petty  German  sovereigns  that  at  the 
close  of  1808  he  owned  a  new  territory  of  122,236  square  miles,  with  a 
population  of  14,608,877  and  an  army  of  119,180  men. 

Ever  since  the  Stone  Age,  when  Gaul  was  a  chief  center,  a  slow 
fusion  of  races  has  been  taking  place,  so  that  the  French  people  may 
almost  be  called  homogeneous.  In  remote  times  the  south  was  occu- 
pied by  Iberians  and  Ligurians  from  North  Africa,  and  all  the  land 
north  of  the  Garonne  by  Celts  from  Central  Europe.  These  were 
followed  by  Phoenicians  from  North  Africa,  Greeks  from  Asia  Mi- 
nor, Romans  from  Italy,  Teutons  (Visigoths,  Burgundians  and 
Franks)  from  Germany,  and  Norsemen  from  Scandinavia.  A  few 
Basques  and  Flemings  in  the  extreme  south  and  north  still  preserve 
their  racial  characteristics,  and  the  Celts  in  Brittany  survive  as  a  dis- 
tinct race.  In  the  fifth  century  they  were  reenf orced  by  their  Cymric 
kinsmen  from  Britain,  which  accounts  for  the  fact  that  many  of  the 
Celtic  legends  are  similar  in  the  two  countries.  All  the  other  races 
were  merged  in  the  Gallo-Roman  nation,  which  had  its  Neo-Latin 


^66 


COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 


language,  consisting  of  two  divisions — the  langue  d'oc  of  the  south 
and  the  langue  d'dil  north  of  the  Loire.  Not  until  the  end  of  the 
eleventh  century  did  the  French  language  become  a  full,  varied,  and 
completely  organized  medium  of  expression. 

The  French  people  are  quick-witted  and  are  gifted  with  high  in- 
telligence. They  stand  supreme  in  art  and  science,  while  their  skilled 
fingers  and  beautiful  finish  give  them  high  rank  among  artisans.    For 


One  of  the  Scores  of  Heavy  Forts  Protecting  Paris 


four  hundred  years  they  have  been  the  leaders  of  the  world  in  taste 
and  fashion.  The  peasantry  are  thrifty  and  industrious,  and  all 
classes  and  conditions  are  noted  for  their  devotion  to  their  country. 
There  is  no  exact  English  equivalent  for  their  word  patrie.  The  say- 
ing Dieu  protege  la  France  is  believed  by  every  one. 

France  is  rich  in  minerals.  In  iron  and  coal  she  stands  next  to 
Great  Britain,  the  United  States  and  Germany.  Valuable  mines  of 
zinc,  lead,  copper,  manganese,  nickel,  antimony,  sulphur,  gold,  silver, 
and  asphalt  are  also  found.  Marble  and  slate  quarries  exist  in  the 
mountains.  The  fisheries  are  valuable:  sardines,  herring,  mackerel, 
tunny,  lobsters,  and  anchovies  yield  large  returns.     Fruit  trees  also 


FRANCE  267 

abound.  Chestnuts  and  walnuts  are  a  great  source  of  revenue. 
France  is  famed  for  her  wines.  In  1912  the  vine-growers  were  esti- 
mated at  1,519,884,  and  the  vintage,  estimated  at  1,306,448,000  gal- 
lons of  wine,  reached  $357,085,000.  During  the  last  hundred  years 
France  has  made  great  strides  in  agriculture.  Cereals  are  cultivated 
over  large  areas.  Potatoes  and  beets  are  raised.  Wheat  and  the 
vine  are  the  chief  industries  of  the  French  peasant.  The  most  exten- 
sive agriculture  is  carried  on  in  the  basins  of  the  Seine,  the  Garonne, 
the  upper  Saone,  and  the  middle  Allier.  Stock-raising  is  also  pro- 
ductive: the  fine  draught-horses  of  Normandy  are  famous.  In  the 
departments  bordering  the  Pyrenees  mules  are  bred  chiefly  for 
Spain.  Cattle  are  numerous  on  the  Swiss  borders,  where  cheese- 
making  is  a  local  occupation.  Twenty-one  departments  are  engaged 
in  the  rearing  of  silkworms  and  production  of  silk.  Of  late  years 
southern  France  has  engaged  largely  in  bulb-raising,  and  her  ex- 
ports to  the  United  States  alone  amount  to  $200,000  yearly.  The 
industrial  centers  are  situated  near  the  coal  basins,  on  account  of  the 
low  price  of  fuel,  or  at  the  seaports,  where  English  coal  is  landed. 
Paris,  Lyons,  and  Nancy  take  the  lead  in  manufactures.  The  center 
of  the  silk  industry  is  Lyons,  whence  large  exports  are  sent  to  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States.  Nancy  is  famed  for  its  artificial  flow- 
ers, cottons,  woolens,  and  embroideries.  Limoges  is  the  principal  seat 
of  the  porcelain  manufacture,  as  well  as  for  gloves  and  paper. 
Watches  and  clocks  are  made  in  the  Jura  and  Vosges  districts.  Paris 
is  the  chief  center  of  the  manufacture  of  artistic  gold  and  silver  work. 

The  northern  departments  are  largely  engaged  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  cotton  and  linen;  Paris  makes  shawls,  damasks,  gauzes  and 
muslins;  lace  and  gloves  contribute  large  sums  to  the  public  wealth, 
as  do  also  perfumes  and  fine  soaps,  and  other  toilet  articles.  Paris 
exports  many  fine  costumes,  hats,  feathers,  artificial  flowers  and  jew- 
elry to  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States. 

Ever  since  the  overthrow  of  Napoleon  III  in  1870  France  has 
been  a  republic  governed  by  a  president  and  an  assembly  consisting 
of  two  houses — the  senate  (300  members)  and  the  chamber  of  depu- 
ties (597  members).  The  assembly  elects  the  president  for  a  term 
of  seven  years.  The  latter  appoints  the  cabinet  ministers  and  makes 
all  civil  and  military  appointments.     The  cabinet  consists  of  a  prime 


S68 


COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 


minister  and  eleven  ministers  of  justice,  public  instruction,  war,  ma- 
rine, foreign  affairs,  finance,  colonies,  agriculture,  commerce,  public 
works,  and  labor. 

The  president  of  the  republic,  M.  Raymond  Poincare  (born  in 
1858),  was  elected  on  January  17,  1913. 

For  administrative  purposes  France  is  divided  into  eighty-six  de- 
partments   (eighty-seven,  if  the  territory  of  Belfort  is  considered 


•   .^             «j^^^^^^l 

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ilil 

Trooper  of  French  Signal  Corps  releasing   a  message-bearing  carrier  pigeon 


separate  from  the  Haut-Rhin).  Since  1881  the  three  departments 
of  Algeria  are  generally  considered  as  a  part  of  France  proper.  The 
unit  of  local  government  is  the  commune,  the  local  affairs  being  un- 
der a  municipal  council.  Each  municipal  council  elects  a  mayor.  In 
Paris  the  municipal  council  is  composed  of  eighty  members.  The 
city's  twenty  arrondissements^  or  districts,  each  having  its  own  mayor, 
are  presided  over  by  the  prefect  of  the  Seine. 

No  religion  is  now  recognized  by  the  State. 

In  1911  the  population  was  given  as  39,601,509. 

War  can  be  declared  by  the  president  only  with  the  consent  of  the 
two  houses.    His  every  act  must  be  countersigned  by  a  minister,    A 


FRANCE  269 

special  body,  the  Conseil  d'Etat,  appointed  by  the  president  and  pre- 
sided over  by  the  minister  of  justice,  gives  advice  upon  administrative 
points  submitted  by  the  Government. 

The  French  army  is  administered  by  the  war  department,  or  min- 
istry of  war,  assisted  by  an  under  secretary,  a  military  cabinet  and  the 
chiefs  of  the  various  bureaus.  A  superior  council,  consisting  of  ex- 
perienced officers  and  presided  over  by  the  commander-in-chief,  gives 
expert  advice.  The  chief  of  the  general  staff  is  responsible  to  the 
minister  for  plans,  maneuvers,  and  preparations  for  war,  and  controls 
the  directors  of  infantry,  cavalry,  engineers,  artillery,  finance,  etc. 

The  national  forces  consist  of  the  metropolitan  army  (703,000 
men)  and  the  colonial  army  (87,000  men),  making  a  total  of  790,000 
men.  The  field  army  is  reckoned  at  20  army  corps,  the  Lyons  bri- 
gade of  14  battalions  and  10  cavalry  divisions,  a  total  of  about  800,000 
combatants.  The  reserve  (including  cavalry)  amounts  to  about 
500,000  men — altogether  a  strength  of  about  1,300,000  combatants. 
The  Algerian  troops  and  troops  of  the  colonial  army,  with  the  Alge- 
rian cavalry,  adding  about  80,000  men,  would  make  a  grand  total  of 
about  1,380,000  combatants.  The  peace  strength,  according  to  the 
budget  for  1912-'13,  has  a  total  of  645,644. 

The  headquarters  are:  Lille,  Amiens,  Rouen,  Le  Mans,  Orleans, 
Chalons-sur-Marne,  Besan9on,  Bourges,  Tours,  Rennes,  Nantes, 
Limoges,  Clermont-Ferrand,  Lyons,  Marseilles,  Montpellier,  Tou- 
louse, Bordeaux,  Algiers,  and  Nancy. 

Military  service  is  compulsory,  liability  to  it  extending  from  the 
age  of  twenty  to  forty-eight. 

Until  the  outbreak  of  war  in  1914,  the  strength  by  arms  was:  In- 
fantry, 590  battalions,  24  Zouaves,  24  Algerian  tirailleurs,  5  African 
light  infantry,  and  1  Saharan  tirailleur.  The  fighting  strength  of 
the  army,  exclusive  of  Algiers  and  Tunis,  was  490,000  men,  with  42 
coast  batteries,  47  fortress  batteries,  14  mountain  batteries,  15  horse 
batteries,  619  field  batteries,  and  21  field  howitzer  batteries.  The 
aeronautical  corps  is  organized  in  three  territorial  groups.  There 
are  27  sections  of  8  aeroplanes,  10  cavalry  sections  of  3  aeroplanes 
each,  and  11  fortress  sections  of  8  aeroplanes  each,  represent- 
ing a  total  of  334  aeroplanes.  The  aeronautical  corps  also  owns 
14  dirigibles.    The  gendarmerie  is  a  force  of  military  police  recruited 


270 


COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 


from  the  army  but  performing  civil  duties  in  time  of  peace.  Their 
strength  is  about  21,700  men.  The  Garde  Republicaine,  another 
police  force,  performs  duties  in  Paris  similar  to  those  of  the  gen- 
darmerie in  the  departments.  Its  strength  is  about  3,000,  of  whom 
about  800  are  mounted. 

In  1913  there  was  a  great  development  of  the  Boy  Scouts.     They 


A  Battery  of  France's  Wonderful  Field  Artillery 


are  recruited  from  all  members  of  society  and  participate  in  the  re- 
unions and  exercises  organized  by  the  Comite  Central. 

The  military  law  of  1913  made  the  length  of  service  three  years 
in  the  active  army;  eleven  years  in  the  reserve;  seven  years  in  the 
territorial  army;  and  seven  years  in  the  reserve  of  the  territorial 
army. 

The  peace  strength  of  the  metropolitan  army  comprises  25,695 
officers,  483,768  men;  the  colonial  army  (in  France),  1,891  officers 
and  25,672  men.    The  gendarmerie,  Garde  Republicaine,  etc.,  bring 


FRANCE  271 

the  force  up  to  673  officers  and  25,672  men.  Algeria  and  Tunis  fur- 
nish 2837  officers  and  69,191  men. 

The  colonial  army,  distinct  from  the  metropolitan,  consists  of 
both  white  and  native  troops.  The  colonial  troops  at  home  consist  of 
12  regiments  of  infantry  and  3  regiments  of  artillery.  The  troops  in 
the  colonies  consist  of  three  battalions  of  the  Foreign  Legion;  13 
battalions  and  4  companies  of  colonial  infantry,  32  batteries  of  artil- 
lery, 1  squadron  or  native  cavalry;  3  companies  of  native  sappers;  49 
battalions  of  native  infantry.  The  officers  and  most  of  the  non- 
commissioned officers  are  French.  The  total  number  of  troops  in 
oversea  garrisons  is  about  134,000,  of  whom  75,000  are  Europeans. 

France's  navy  ranks  fifth  among  the  world's  naval  Powers.  The 
minister  of  marine,  who  is  a  vice-admiral,  is  its  head.  The  navy 
council  consists  of  five  vice-admirals  occupying  the  position  of  the 
maritime  prefect,  the  two  vice-admirals  commanding  in  home  waters, 
and  vice-admirals  that  have  commanded  the  two  home  fleets  within  the 
past  two  years.  There  are  also  four  inspectors-general.  The  navy 
is  manned  partly  by  conscription  and  partly  by  voluntary  enlistment. 
The  Inscription  Maritime  dates  from  1683,  originating  with  Colbert, 
minister  of  marine  under  Louis  XIV. 

The  navy  is  composed  of  twenty  battleships;  forty-five  armored 
cruisers  and  protected  cruisers,  213  torjiedo-boats  and  destroyers; 
sixty-five  submarines ;  and  a  great  number  of  transports,  mine-layers, 
etc.  There  are  four  dreadnoughts,  each  of  23,400  tons  displacement 
and  36,000  horse-power,  and  carrying  twelve  twelve-inch  guns  and 
twenty-two  five-inch  guns.  There  are  three  superdreadnoughts  of 
23,500  tons  displacement,  carrying  ten  thirteen-inch  and  twenty-two 
five-inch  guns.  The  naval  architects  have  carried  ingenuity  of  con- 
struction to  a  high  degree,  in  the  four  superdreadnoughts,  launched 
but  not  yet  in  commission,  of  25,387  tons  displacement,  having 
twelve  thirteen-inch  and  twenty- four  five-inch  guns  in  groups  of  four 
in  the  turrets. 

The  minor  cruisers  include  the  aerial  depot  ship  "Foudre."  The 
navy  has  two  centers  of  aviation — one  at  Frejus-St.-Raphael,  the 
other  at  Montpellier.     There  is  an  efficient  corps  of  hydroplanes. 

For  purposes  of  administration,  the  French  coasts  are  divided  into 
five  arrondissements,  with  headquarters  at  Cherbourg,  Brest,  Lorient, 


272 


COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 


Rochefort  and  Toulon,  at  each  of  which  there  are  shipyards.  Each 
arrondissement  is  presided  over  by  a  vice-admiral  with  the  title  of 
maritime  prefect.  The  chief  torpedo-stations  are  Cherbourg,  Brest, 
Dunkirk,  Lorient,  Rochefort,  Toulon,  Corsica,  Bizerta,  Oran,  Al- 
giers and  Bona.  The  forces  afloat  are:  the  Mediterranean  Squad- 
ron, the  Northern  Squadron  in  the  Channel;  and  the  divisions  of  the 
Atlantic,  Pacific,  Far  East,  Cochin  China,  and  the  Indian  Ocean. 


Removing  the   Dead  After  the   Battle  of  Charleroi 


The  personnel  of  the  navy  includes  4,128  officers,  60,153  sailors, 
and  35,000  workmen  for  the  construction  and  repair  of  ships. 
France  is  provided  with  a  reserve  of  114,000  men,  of  whom  about 
25,500  are  serving  with  the  fleet. 

In  1911  the  French  mercantile  marine  included  15,949  sailing- 
vessels,  and  1,780  steamers,  of  838,118  tons. 

France's  colonial  possessions  in  the  East  are  Pondicherry  in  India 
(about  196  square  miles,  population  276,484)  ;  Annam  (52,100  square 
miles,  population  5,554,822)  ;  Cambodia  (45,000  square  miles,  popu- 
lation 1,634,252).     Cochin  China   (20,000  square  miles,  population 


FRANCE 


273 


•^>#*  -■ 


3,050,785)  ;  Tonking  (46,400  square  miles,  population  6,119,720)  ;  the 
Laos  Territory  (98,000  squai^e  miles,  population  640,877)  ;ah(iHhe 
territory  of  Kwang  Chau  Wan  on  the  coast  of  China,  leased  from 
China  in  1898,  which,  with  two  islands  in  the  bay,  was  placed  under 


French  Mountain    Battery 

the  authority  of  the  governor-general  of  Indo-China    (190  square 
miles,  population  about  150,000) . 

On  the  evening  of  August  1,  1914,  following  the  action  of  Ger- 
many in  mobilizing  her  army  against  Russia,  France  ordered  the 
mobilizing  of  her  own  army.  On  August  12  she  declared  war  on 
Austria-Hungary,  and  two  days  later  (August  14)  her  troops 
entered  Belgium  to  assist  in  the  defense  of  Brussels,  penetrating  as 
far  as  Gembloux,  north  of  the  Sambre. 


WILLIAM      (WILHELM)     II 

German    Emperor,    King  of   Prussia.      Born    in    Berlin,   January  27,   1859.      Son   of   the    Emperor 

Frederick  III  and  of  Victoria,  Sister  of  Edward  VII.      Succeeded  to  the  Throne  on  the 

Death  of  His  Father,  June  15,  1888.      Married,  February  27,  1881,  Augusta 

Victoria,  Princess  of  Schleswig-Holstein 

274 


THE    GERMAN    EMPIRE 


275 


The  German  Empire — Germany,  the  storm-center  of  the  war,  oc- 
cupies the  central  part  of  Europe,  having  for  its  geographical  neigh- 
bors Russia,  Hungary,  Austria,  Switzerland,  France,  Luxemburg, 
Belgium,  the  Netherlands,  and  Denmark.  Within  twenty- four  hours 
its  war-ships  can  reach  Great  Britain  across  the  North  Sea.  Its  coast- 
line is  about  1,200  miles  in  length,  and  it  has  3,500  miles  of  land  fron- 
tier to  guard.  Southern  Germany  is  elevated,  and,  in  certain  regions, 
mountainous,  though  the  highest  peak  in  the  empire  (Zugspitze,  in 


Kaiser  Reviewing  the  Imperial  Guards  at  Potsdam 


Bavaria)  reaches  an  elevation  of  only  9,725  feet.  The  northern  part, 
embracing  about  one  third  of  the  country,  is  a  low-lying  plain.  Ger- 
many has  no  well-defined  natural  borders  except  on  her  Austro-Hun- 
garian  and  Swiss  frontiers,  and  for  a  few  miles  in  Alsace,  where  the 
Vosges  Mountains  rise  between  her  and  France.  The  rest  of  the 
French  boundary  is  an  arbitrary  line,  while  the  coast  plain  that 
stretches  across  Northern  Germany  merges  into  Holland  and  Bel- 
gium on  the  west  and  Russian  Poland  on  the  east.  The  country  slopes 
to  the  North  Sea  and  the  Baltic,  to  which  four  great  rivers  find  their 
way,  running  roughly  in  parallel  courses.  The  Rhine,  which  courses 
through  Holland,  the  Weser,  and  the  Elbe  flow  into  the  North  Sea; 


276 


THE    GERMAN    EMPIRE  277 

the  Oder  and  the  Vistula  into  the  Baltic.  The  smaller  Niemen  runs 
through  Russia  and  cuts  into  German  territory  a  few  miles  west  of 
the  frontier.  Hamburg,  Germany's  great  port,  is  on  the  estuary  of 
the  Elbe;  Bremen  is  on  the  Weser.  Not  far  from  Hamburg  lies  one 
entrance  of  the  great  Kaiser- Wilhelm  Canal,  which  joins  the  North 
Sea  and  the  Baltic,  across  territory  wrested  from  Denmark  in  1864, 
and  gives  the  fleet  the  great  strategic  advantage  of  quick  and  safe  ac- 
cess to  both  seas.  Germany  has  no  great  lakes ;  but  east  of  the  Elbe, 
along  the  Baltic  plain,  across  which  the  Russian  army  of  invasion  will 
operate,  there  are  hundreds  of  small  and  medium-sized  lakes.  The 
area  of  Germany  is  208,780  square  miles.  Its  population,  according 
to  the  census  of  1910,  was  64,925,993,  an  average  of  310.4  to  the 
square  mile.  In  1816  the  population  of  the  same  area  was  24,831,396. 
The  present  German  Empire  is  one  of  the  youngest  of  the  nations, 
as  it  dates  only  from  1871,  and  though  the  history  of  the  various  States 
that  comprise  it  begins  at  the  time  of  the  break-up  of  the  western 
Roman  Empire,  it  was  only  after  the  fall  of  Napoleon  in  1815  that  the 
group  of  Teutonic  States  that  now  form  the  empire  took  political 
shape.  During  the  eighteenth  centiuy  what  is  now  Germany  had 
been  a  jumble  of  more  than  three  hundred  independent  States;  and 
Germany  owes  to  the  conqueror  Napoleon  the  first  impetus  toward 
consolidation,  for  he  roughly  swept  most  of  them  out  of  existence,  and 
at  his  fall  they  numbered  only  thirty-nine.  The  Congress  of  Vienna, 
which  in  1815  carefully  picked  up  and  cemented  the  pieces  into  which 
Napoleon  had  shattered  Europe,  constituted  the  German  Confedera- 
tion, a  clumsy  organization,  under  the  leadership  of  Austria.  A  prom- 
ising liberal  movement  toward  the  establishment  of  a  German  empire 
took  place  in  1848,  when  a  national  parliament  was  called;  but  the 
movement  was  doomed  when  in  1849  the  weak  King  of  Prussia  re- 
fused to  accept  the  office  of  German  Emperor  to  which  he  had  been 
chosen.  There  was  not  room  in  Germany  for  both  Prussia  and  Aus- 
tria, and  their  rivalries  made  a  real  union  impossible.  Prince  Bismarck, 
to  whose  ruthless  but  sagacious  and  successful  statesmanship  Germany 
owes  the  greatness  she  has  now  so  rashly  placed  in  jeopardy,  took  ad- 
vantage of  quarrels  with  Austria  over  the  administration  of  Schleswig- 
Holstein,  which  was  taken  from  Denmark  in  1864  by  the  combined 
forces  of  the  two  Powers,  to  force  a  final  clash  between  the  rivals. 


278 


THE    GERMAN    EMPIRE 


279 


Austria  was  completely  vanquished  in  the  seven  weeks'  war  that  fol- 
lowed (1866),  and  Europe  awoke  to  the  realization  that  a  new  power 
of  extraordinary  military  efficiency  was  thereafter  to  be  reckoned 
with.  Prussia,  greatly  increased  in  territory  by  the  Austrian  war, 
now  became  the  dominant  power  in  the  new  North  German  Confed- 
eration, with  offensive  and  defensive  treaties  of  alliance  with  three 


The  Kaiser  as  a  Country  Gentleman 


southern  States — Bavaria,  Wurttemberg,  and  Baden.  The  growing 
power  of  Prussia  brought  her  into  rivalry  with  France,  then  ruled  by 
Napoleon  III,  the  mediocre  nephew  and  namesake  of  the  great  em- 
peror. Bismarck  took  the  same  skilful  and  unscrupulous  advantage 
of  the  fatuity  of  the  French  emperor  that  he  previously  had  taken  of 
Austria,  and  a  pretext  for  war  was  easily  found.  On  July  19,  1870, 
Napoleon  III  declared  war,  and  his  army  set  out  for  Berlin.  On 
September  2,  the  unfortunate  Emperor  Napoleon  was  a  prisoner. 


PRINCE    OSCAR 
Fifth  Son  of  the  Kaiser,  in  Command  of  One  of  the  GerlVian  Armies 


250 


THE    GERMAN    EMPIRE 


281 


and  on  January  18, 1871,  in  the  ancient  palace  of  the  French  kings  at 
Versailles,  William  I,  King  of  Prussia,  was  proclaimed  German  Em- 
peror. On  April  16,  1871,  the  constitution  of  the  new  empire  was 
promulgated.  In  accordance  with  the  terms  of  the  Treaty  of  Frank- 
fort-on-the-Main  (May  10,  1871),  which  closed  the  Franco-Prussian 
war,  France  ceded  Alsace  and  German-speaking  Lorraine  to  Ger- 
many and  paid  a  war  indemnity  of  5,000,000,000  francs  ($1,000,000,- 
000).     Since  then  the  conquests  of  Germany  have  been  intellectual. 


German  Soldiers  Jeered  by  French  at  the  Frontier  before  the  War 


scientific,  industrial,  and  commercial,  and  she  has  aroused  the  admira- 
tion of  the  whole  world  by  her  achievements  in  all  lines  of  human  prog- 
ress— with  the  exception  of  liberal  government.  The  medieval  au- 
tocracy of  the  emperor  and  the  odious  militarism  of  the  ruling  classes 
undoubtedly  were  the  most  powerful  influences  in  impelling  Germany 
to  challenge  the  world  in  arms.  Since  1871  Germany  has  devoted  her- 
self to  the  task  of  building  up  her  industries  and  foreign  trade  with 
extraordinary  energy  and  skill  and  with  such  success  that  at  the  out- 
break of  the  war  her  foreign  trade  and  her  magnificent  merchant 
marine  were  second  only  to  those  of  Great  Britain.  At  the  same  time, 
she  had  the  most  formidable  military  machine  that  the  world  had  ever 


!282 


COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 


seen,  and  her  navy  had  reached  such  proportions  as  to  cause  great  un- 
easiness to  the  mistress  of  the  seas  across  the  North  Sea. 

In  1884,  with  the  acquisition  of  some  small  territories  in  Africa, 
Germany  entered  upon  her  career  as  a  colonial  power,  and  her  pos- 
sessions at  the  opening  of  the  war  had  an  area  of  more  than  a  million 
square  miles,  with  a  population  of  twelve  millions.  The  "Triple  Alli- 
ance" (Dreihund),  between  Germany,  Austria-Hungary,  and  Italy, 
negotiated  by  Bismarck  in  1883,  has  just  fallen  apart  by  the  defection 
of  Italy,  probably  actuated  by  her  inveterate  hatred  against  Austria 
and  her  desire  to  redeem  the  Italian-speaking  provinces  that  are  still 
held  by  Austria.  The  following  table  shows  the  States  that  compose 
the  empire,  and  gives  important  information  regarding  them: 


Prussia 

Bavaria 

Saxony 

Wurttemberg 

Baden 

Hesse 

Mecklenburg-Schwerin 

Saxony 

Mecklenburg-Strelitz 

Oldenburg 

Brunswick 

Saxe-Meiningen 

Saxe-Altenburg 

Saxe-Coburg-Gotha 

Anbalt 

Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. . 

Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt 

Waldeck 

Reuss  Aelteres  Linie 

Reuss  Jungerer  Linie 

Schaumburg-Lippe 

Lippe 

Lubeck 

Bremen 

Hamburg 

Alsace-Lorraine 


Kingdom . 


Grand  Duchy. 


Duchy . 


Principality  . 


Free  Town 


Reichsland. . . , 


Capital 


Berlin 

Munich 

Dresden 

Stuttgart 

Carlsruhe 

Darmstadt. . . . 

Wismar 

Weimar 

Neu-Strelitz. . . 
Oldenburg. . . . 
Brunswick.. . . 
Meiningen .... 
Altenburg .... 
Coburg-Gotha. 
Dessau. . . . 
Sondershausen 
Rudolstadt .  . 

Arolsen 

Greiz 

Gera 

Buckeburg 

Detmold . . 


Strassburg. 


Area, 
Square 
^liles 


134,616 

29,292 

5,789 

7,534 

5,823 

2,966 

5,068 

1,397 

1,131 

2,482 

1,418 

953 

511 

764 

888 

333 

363 

433 

122 

319 

131 

469 

115 

99 

160 

5,604 


Population 


40,165,219 

6,887,291 

4,806,661 

2,437,547 

2,142,833 

1,282,051 

639.958 

417,149 

106,442 

483,042 

494,339 

278,762 

216,128 

257,177 

331,128 

89,917 

100,702 

61,707 

72,769 

152,752 

46,652 

150,937 

116.599 

299,526 

1,014,664 

1,874,014 


Religion 

by 

Percentages 


66  Prot. 
70  R.C. 

95  Prot. 

68  Prot. 
59  R.C. 

69  Prot. 

96  Prot. 
94  Prot. 

Prot. 
79  Prot. 

Prot. 

Prot. 

Prot. 

Prot. 

Prot. 

Prot. 

Prot. 

Prot. 

Prot. 

Prot. 

Prot. 

Prot. 
96  Prot. 
87  Prot. 
92  Prot 
76  R.C. 


Mem- 
bers in 
Bundes- 
rath 


17 
6 
4 
4 

3 
3 

2 


Deputies 
in  Reich- 
stag 


236 
48 
23 
17 
14 
9 
6 
3 
1 
3 
3 
2 
1 
2 
2 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
S 
15 


The  four  kingdoms,  six  grand  duchies,  five  duchies,  seven  princi- 
palities, three  free  towns,  and  the  imperial  territory  of  Alsace-Lor- 
raine bear  somewhat  the  same  relation  to  the  empire  that  the  various 
States  bear  to  the  Federal  Government  of  the  United  States.    Some 


THE    GERMAN    EMPIRE 


283 


Friedrich   Wilhelm,  Crown   Prince  of   Prussia 

of  the  principalities  are  very  tiny,  and  with  their  well-nigh  feudal 
governments  are  anachronistic  survivals  of  medieval  times.  The  au- 
tonomy of  the  free  cities  also  dates  from  the  Middle  Ages,  when  these 
cities  were  at  the  head  of  the  Hanseatic  League,  a  powerful  union 
of  the  commercial  cities  of  the  coast.  By  the  constitution,  the  King 
of  Prussia  is  also  the  German  Emperor.  The  present  King  of  Prus- 
sia and  German  Emperor  is  William  II,  grandson  of  the  emperor 
who  was  proclaimed  at  Versailles.  The  hegemony  of  the  Kingdom 
of  Prussia  lies  not  alone  in  the  honor  of  the  presidency  of  the  Empire 


Admiral  von   Tirpitz 
Minister  of   iVIarine 


Dr.  von    Bethmann-Hoilweg 
Chancellor  of  the  Empire 


A    GROUP    OF    HIGH    GERMAN    OFFICIALS 
S84 


THE    GERMAN    EMPIRE  285 

conferred  upon  her  king.  Her  vote  in  the  Bundesrath  is  sufficiently- 
large  to  prevent  the  passage  of  any  constitutional  amendments  which 
she  (that  is  to  say,  the  emperor)  may  not  favor.  Certain  special  privi- 
leges were  granted  to  Bavaria,  Wurttemberg,  and  Baden  also,  to  in- 
duce them  to  join  the  empire.  The  two  former,  for  example,  have 
their  own  railway  and  postal  systems,  and  their  armies  are  separate 
military  organizations.  Local  patriotism  is  especially  strong  in  Ba- 
varia. The  emperor  has  the  power  of  declaring  war,  if  def  efisive,  mak- 
ing peace,  and  entering  into  treaties  with  foreign  nations,  j  He  is  also 
commander-in-chief  of  the  army  and  the  navy,  and  the  supreme  di- 
rection of  the  affairs  of  the  empire  is  vested  in  him.  King  George  of 
England  is  also  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  British  army  -and 
navy,  and  all  government  nominally  centers  in  him.  As  a  matter  of; 
fact,  however,  he  is  a  mere  shadow  of  royalty,  whereas  the  German 
emperor  is  the  head  and  front  of  the  government. 

All  laws  passed  by  the  legislature  must  be  promulgated  by  the 
emperor,  and  their  administration  is  entrusted  to  him.  The  executive' 
power  of  the^  emperor  is  exercised  by  the  imperial  chancellor,  who 
is  responsible,  not  to  the  legislature,  but  to  the  emperor,  and  holds 
office  at  his  pleasure.  Under  the  supervision  of  the  chancellor  are 
fourteen  secretaries  (of  foreign  affairs,  admiralty,  army,  post-office, 
etc. )  ;  but  these  secretaries  are  in  no  sense  comparable  with  the  British 
cabinet,  which  is  responsible  to  parliament  and  over  which  the  king 
has  not  a  vestige  of  authority.  The  imperial  chancellor  is  president 
of  the  Bundesrath,  and  has  a  seat  in  the  Reichstag,  where  he  acts  as 
the  mouthpiece  of  the  government. 

The  legislature  is  composed  of  two  chambers :  the  Bundesrath,  or 
Federal  Council,  and  the  Reichstag,  or  National  Diet.  The  Bun- 
desrath represents  the  federal  principle,  as  does  our  Senate,  and  all  the 
States,  however  petty,  are  represented  in  it.  The  table  on  page  282 
shows  the  apportionment  of  the  sixty-one  members  of  the  Bundesrath 
among  the  various  States.  The  members  are  appointed  by  their  re- 
spective State  governments,  and  each  State  delegation  must  vote  as  a 
unit  in  accordance  with  instructions  from  its  government.  The 
Bundesrath  shares  with  the  emperor  certain  powers  of  nominating  and 
appointing  imperial  officials.  Its  members  are  regarded  as  ambassa- 
dors from  the  States  they  represent — they  have,  in  fact,  the  same 


^86 


COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 


privilege  of  ex-territoriality  and  rank  with  them  officially — and  may 
address  the  Reichstag  in  favor  of  measures  advocated  by  their  gov- 
ernments. 

Under  the  direction  of  the  imperial  chancellor,  the  Bundesrath 
acts  as  a  supreme  administrative  and  consultative  board,  its  powers  in 
this  respect  being  exercised  through  twelve  standing  committees  with 


Kaiser  William   II  and   His  Five  Sons 


authority  over  various  departments  of  government — the  army,  navy, 
tariff,  trade,  railways,  finance,  civil  and  criminal  law,  foreign  affairs, 
Alsace  and  Lorraine,  the  constitution,  standing  orders,  and  railway 
tariffs.  The  Bundesrath  also  exercises  the  functions  of  our  Supreme 
Court,  in  legal  and  constitutional  controversies  between  States. 

The  Reichstag  is  composed  of  three  hundred  and  ninety-seven 
deputies  elected  by  universal  suffrage  for  a  term  of  five  years,  the 
representation  of  each  State  being  determined  by  its  population.  The 
result  naturally  is  that  the  Reichstag  is  mainly  Prussian.  The  mem- 
bers receive  3,000  marks  ($714)  for  each  session,  with  a  deduction  of 


THE   GERMAN    EMPIRE  S8Y 

twenty  marks  for  each  day's  absence.  They  receive  also  free  passes 
over  the  railroads.  The  Reichstag  has  equal  powers  of  initiating  leg- 
islation with  the  Bundesrath,  and  the  two  bodies  have  constitutional 
jurisdiction  over  many  things  which  in  the  United  States  fall  within 
the  province  of  the  several  States.  Laws,  when  passed  by  the  im- 
perial legislature,  are  administered  by  the  various  State  governments 
under  the  emperor's  supervision. 


Gun  Factory  at  the  Krupp  Works,   Essen 

Germany  enjoj^s  uniform  codes  of  civil  and  criminal  law  through- 
out the  empire.  The  courts  are  of  three  grades,  with  successively  wider 
jurisdiction  and  powers  in  cases  of  appeal  from  lower  courts,  the 
highest  being  the  Supreme  Court  of  one  hundred  members  {Reichs- 
gericht),  which  sits  at  Leipzig.  Bavaria  has  a  supreme  court  of  its 
own  (Oherstes  Landesgericht) ,  composed  of  twenty-two  members, 
with  revising  jurisdiction  over  the  lower  Bavarian  courts.  The  Ger- 
man jury  consists  of  twelve  members,  and  usually  three  judges  occu- 
py the  bench.     The  shameful  entanglement  with  politics  which  dis- 


288 


THE    GERMAN    EMPIRE  289 

graces  and  corrupts  our  lower  courts  does  not  exist  there,  and  the 
German  judge  is  placed  in  a  position  of  absolute  independence,  be- 
cause, once  appointed,  there  is  no  power  to  remove,  transfer,  or  retire 
him  against  his  will,  so  long  as  he  properly  discharges  his  duties. 
With  the  exception  of  the  members  of  the  Supreme  Court,  appointed 
by  the  emperor  upon  the  nomination  of  the  Bundesrath,  the  judges 
are  appointed  and  paid  by  the  various  States.  Since  1907  the  number 
of  causes  tried  in  the  various  courts  of  Germany  has  not  increased  as 
rapidly  as  the  population.  In  1911,  the  latest  year  for  which  figures 
are  available,  1,446,472  persons  were  tried  by  German  courts,  and 
552,560  were  convicted.  This  was  equal  to  119.8  convictions  for  each 
10,000  inhabitants.    In  1907  the  ratio  was  122.2. 

Germany  has  grappled  with  the  problem  of  pauperism  in  a  very 
intelligent  way,  though  the  growth  of  socialism,  at  which  such  meas- 
ures were  aimed,  has  not  been  checked  thereby,  as  112  socialist  depu- 
ties— ^nearly  one  third  of  its  membership — sit  in  the  Reichstag.  The 
German  national  compulsory  insurance  of  workingmen  against  sick- 
ness, accident,  and  old  age  is  a  very  comprehensive  scheme  for  the 
alleviation  of  those  evils  on  a  scale  vastly  larger  than  any  nation  had 
ever  before  attempted.  In  fact,  nothing  yet  approaches  it  except  the 
English  old-age  pension  system.  For  insurance  against  sickness, 
workmen  must  pay  two  thirds  and  the  employer  one  third  of  the  con- 
tribution, or  premium.  The  employers  must  pay  the  total  charges  for 
the  insurance  of  their  workmen  against  accident.  For  old-age  and 
infirmity  pensions  the  employer  must  pay  half,  and  the  beneficiary 
half,  the  State  contributing  $12  to  each  pension  when  it  is  paid.  The 
employer  is  responsible  for  the  payment  of  all  the  authorized  contri- 
butions, both  his  own  and  the  employee's,  but  the  latter's  charges  may 
be  deducted  from  his  wages.  Premiums  are  paid  by  affixing  postage- 
stamps  to  official  cards  weekly.  Old-age  and  infirmity  pensions  are 
paid  after  contributions  have  been  kept  up  regularly  for  1,200  weeks 
(twenty-five  and  one  half  years).  Pensions  are  divided  into  five 
classes,  according  to  wages  received.  The  lowest  class  is  on  wages  of 
about  $84  a  year.  On  this  the  weekly  contribution  is  about  three  and 
one  half  cents,  and  the  yearly  pension  about  $38.  The  highest  class  is 
based  on  yearly  wages  between  $275  and  $480.  In  this  class  the 
weekly  contributions  are  about  eight  and  one  half  cents,  and  the  yearly 


290 


COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 


A   Brigade  of  German   Horse  Artillery 


pension  about  $77.  In  the  year  1911  the  total  amount  of  compensa- 
tion paid  by  the  State  for  insurance  of  the  three  classes  was  $206,- 
179,000. 

In  religion,  Germany  is  61  per  cent.  Protestant  and  36  per  cent. 
Catholic.  Jews  form  about  1  per  cent,  of  the  population.  The  table 
on  page  282,  giving  statistical  information  regarding  the  component 
States  of  the  Empire,  reveals  sharp  contrasts  in  the  religious  make-up 
of  the  country,  Prussia  and  Saxony,  for  example,  being  strongly 
Protestant,  and  Bavaria  and  Baden  largely  Catholic. 

Education  is  compulsor}^  throughout  Germany,  and  so  thoroughly 
have  the  elementarj^  schools  done  their  work  that  the  number  of  illiter- 
ates in  the  empire  is  astonishingly  small.  In  1912  only  one  twentieth 
of  one  per  cent,  of  the  army  recruits  were  reported  as  illiterate.  There 
are  twenty-one  universities  in  the  empire,  four  of  which  are  Catholic, 
four  mixed,  and  thirteen  Protestant.  These  universities  have  a  total 
of  3,450  professors  and  teachers  and  59,312  students.  The  largest  is 
Berlin,  with  502  professors  and  teachers  and  10,274  students.  The 
technical  and  agricultural  schools  of  Germany  are  highly  efficient  and 
have  contributed  powerfully  to  Germany's  wonderful  commercial  ad- 
vance.   The  naval  academy  is  at  Kiel,  and  the  two  military  academies 


THE    GERMAN    EMPIRE 


29T 


German   Horse  Artillery  on  the  March 


are  at  Berlin  and  Munich.  According  to  a  school  census  taken  in 
1911,  there  were  in  the  empire  61,557  elementary  public  schools,  with 
a  total  attendance  of  10,309,949.  Differences  of  religious  opinion 
are  officially  recognized  by  the  educational  authorities  in  Germany, 
and  special  schools  are  provided  for  Protestants,  Catholics,  and  Jews. 
While  German  is  the  language  of  the  greater  part  of  the  population, 
there  are  still  nearly  4,500,000  subjects  of  the  empire  who  cannot 
speak  its  language.  About  3,500,000  Poles  in  Eastern  Prussia,  200,- 
000  French  in  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  and  140,000  Danes  in  Schleswig- 
Holstein  still  obstinately  reject  the  language  of  the  conquering  race. 

The  imperial  revenues  are  derived  from  customs  duties,  excise 
taxes  on  spirits,  tobacco,  etc.,  and  profits  of  the  railways,  postal  serv- 
ice, and  telegraphs.  In  addition,  the  various  States  are  assessed  in 
proportion  to  their  population.  The  estimated  revenue  for  the  year 
ending  March  31,  1915,  is  $831,979,854.  The  total  expenditure  dur- 
ing the  year  ending  March  31, 1914,  was  $879,656,301.  The  expenses 
of  the  war,  of  course,  will  increase  enormously  the  expenditure  for 
1914. 

Germany  is  divided,  for  national  defense,  into  ten  "fortress  dis- 
tricts," as  follows:    On  the  eastern  Baltic,  Konigsberg;  on  the  Bus- 


292 


COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 


sian  and  Austrian  borders,  Thorn  and  Posen;  in  the  interior,  Berlin; 
in  the  south,  Munich  and  Mainz;  on  the  French  frontier,  Metz  and 
Strassburg;  on  the  Belgian  frontier,  Cologne;  on  the  North  Sea  and 
western  Baltic,  Kiel.  Konigsberg  contains  the  first-class  fortresses 
of  Konigsberg  and  Danzig,  the  latter  one  of  the  coast-defense  sj'^s- 
tem,  with  the  minor  defenses  of  Pillau,  ]Memel,  and  Boyen.    Posen 


The  Julius  Tower  at  Spandau,  Where  Germany  Kept  Her  Great  War  Treasure 


contains  the  first-class  fortresses  of  Posen  and  Neisse,  together  with 
Glogau  and  Glatz.  Berlin  contains  the  heavy  fortresses  of  Spandau, 
Magdeburg,  and  Kiistrin,  with  Torgau.  Mainz  contains  IMainz,  Ulm, 
and  Rastatt — all  of  the  first  class.  Metz  has  Diedenhofen  and  Bitsch, 
besides  the  powerful  fortress  of  Metz.  Cologne  contains  Cologne 
and  Coblenz  of  the  first  class,  with  Wesel  and  Saarlouis.  Kiel  con- 
tains, besides  the  heavily  fortified  naval  bases  of  Kiel  and  Wilhelms- 
haven,  the  coast  fortifications  of  Friedrichsort,  Cuxhaven,  Geeste- 
miinde,  and  Swinemiinde.    Thorn  contains  Thorn,  Graudenz,  Vistula 


THE    GERMAN    EMPIRE  293 

Passages,  and  Dirschau — all  of  the  second  class.  Strassburg  contains 
New  Breisach  and  the  formidable  fortress  of  Strassburg.  Munich  has 
Germersheim  and  the  first-class  fortress  of  Ingolstadt. 

It  is  impossible  to  find  some  of  these  fortified  places  upon  an 
ordinary  commercial  map;  but  they  now  overshadow  the  great  cities 
of  the  empire  in  importance,  and  some  of  them  will  probably  become 
historic  spots  before  the  close  of  the  war. 

The  German  army  is  undoubtedly  the  most  formidable  military 
machine  with  which  mankind  has  so  far  burdened  itself.  Last  year  it 
cost  the  German  people  $206,347,000.  Military  service  is  universal 
and  unescapable,  except  for  physical  disability  or  through  special  ex- 
emption. At  the  age  of  seventeen,  the  boy  becomes  liable  for  serv- 
ice, but  in  time  of  peace  does  not  actually  join  the  army  until  the 
beginning  of  his  twentieth  year.  From  that  time  until  his  forty-fifth 
year  every  German  is  a  soldier,  either  with  the  colors  or  in  one  division 
or  another  of  the  reserve.  He  first  serves  two  years  continuously  in 
the  ranks,  and  then  passes  for  five  years  into  the  first  line  of  the  re- 
serve. While  in  the  reserve,  he  is  still  attached  to  his  corps,  and  must 
return  to  it  twice  for  periods  of  training  not  exceeding  eight  weeks. 
Having  completed  the  first  stage  of  his  military  career  at  twenty- 
seven  years  of  age,  the  German  then  passes  into  the  Landwehr,  which 
constitutes  Germany's  second  army.  For  five  years  he  serves  with  the 
first  "ban,"  during  which  time  he  must  report  twice  for  training  for 
one  or  two  weeks.  Having  completed  this  term,  he  passes  into  the 
second  ban  of  the  Landwehr  until  his  thirty-ninth  year ;  but  he  is  not 
liable  to  be  called  for  training  in  this  period.  Still  the  State  is  not 
through  with  him.  Between  the  ages  of  thirty-nine  and  forty-five 
he  is  enrolled  in  the  Landsturm,  or  home-defense  army,  which  con- 
tains, in  addition  to  those  who  have  completed  their  military  service,  all 
those  who  have  been  exempted  for  any  reason. 

The  foregoing  is  the  military  career  of  an  infantryman  or  a  field- 
artilleryman.  In  the  cavalry  and  the  horse-artillery,  the  men  serve 
three  years  in  the  ranks,  four  years  with  the  reserve,  and  then  three 
years  with  the  first  "ban"  of  the  Landwehr.  As  Germany  is  fortu- 
nate in  having  more  boys  arriving  at  military  age  each  year  than  she 
needs,  there  is  organized  to  provide  for  them  what  is  known  as  the 
"Ersatz"  reserve.    Those  enrolled  in  this  division  receive  special  short 


294 


COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 


periods  of  training,  and  a  large  portion  of  them  are  destined  for  non- 
combatant  military  duties  in  time  of  war.  Besides  the  conscripts,  who 
are  soldiers  whether  they  will  or  no,  there  are  two  classes  of  volun- 
teers in  the  army.  One  is  composed  of  well-to-do  and  well-educated 
young  men  who  serA'^e  for  one  year  and  pay  their  own  expenses,  many 
of  them  being  graduated  as  officers  of  the  reserve  and  Landwehr;  the 


The  Colors  of  the  Guards  Passing  in  Review  Before  the  Emperor 


other  includes  those  who  have  a  liking  for  military  life,  remain  in  the 
army  permanently,  and  for  the  most  part  provide  it  with  its  non- 
commissioned officers. 

The  officers  are  professional  soldiers,  who  are  destined  for  a  mili- 
tary career  from  an  early  age.  They  are  drawn  from  the  sons  of  the 
well-to-do  classes,  and  are  mainly  nobles.  They  are  highly  educated, 
and  thoroughly  trained  in  everything  that  pertains  to  the  military  art. 
They  are  animated  by  an  intense  military  patriotism  and  a  devotion 
to  the  emperor,  and  are  possessed  of  a  fierce  determination  that  success 


THE    GERMAN    EMPIRE 


^95 


shall  crown  the  German  arms  at  whatever  cost  to  themselves  and  the 
men  under  their  comjnand. 

In  case  of  war,  the  reserves  are  immediately  called  to  the  colors, 
and  the  men  of  the  Landwehr,  in  such  numbers  as  may  be  necessary, 


Germans  Removing  Their  Wounded  from  a  Belgium  Battlefield 


are  concentrated  in  depots,  to  be  drawn  upon  to  supply  the  losses  at 
the  front,  to  man  forts,  to  defend  lines  of  communication,  and  to  per- 
form such  other  duties  as  the  military  situation  may  require.  Should 
a  last  desperate  defense  be  necessary,  the  members  of  the  Landsturm 
must  take  their  places  at  the  front. 

The  German  army  is  divided  mto  twenty-five  army  corps,  each 
corps  being  an  independent  unit  consisting  of  all  arms  of  the  service — 


296 


THE    GERMAN    EMPIRE 


297 


cavalry,  artillery,  engineers,  and  infantry — numbering  in  all  about 
43,000  men  when  on  a  war  footing.  The  peace  establishment,  or 
standing  army,  for  the  year  1913  was  36,304  officers,  754,681  men,  and 
157,816  horses.  To  this  must  be  added  about  470,000  reserves,  mak- 
ing the  total  strength  of  the  field  army  about  1,250,000  men.  The 
Landwehr  can  yield  about  600,000  men  ready  for  early  action.  The 
remaining  available  forces,  before  resorting  to  the  Landsturm,  are 
variously  estimated,  but  probably  do  not  fall  short  of  1,500,000. 
Hence,  Germany  can  put  into  the  field,  for  offensive  warfare,  about 
3,350,000  men. 


Mobilizing   the   Landsturm   at   Leipsic 

The  infantry  is  armed  with  the  Mauser  magazine  rifle,  of  a  caliber 
of  .311  inch,  model  1898.  The  field  and  horse  artillery  are  equipped 
with  15-pounder  Krupp  guns,  model  of  1896.  Their  light  howitzer 
throws  a  30-pound  shell.  The  heavy  siege  howitzer  is  a  94-pounder. 
These  guns  are  described  in  the  chapter  on  military  weapons.  The 
cavalry  are  armed  throughout  with  the  lance.  Not  all  German  cav- 
alrymen are  Uhlans,  however,  as  current  war  despatches  appear  to  in- 
dicate, though  there  is  little  difference  among  the  various  classes  of 
cavalry,  except  in  name. 

The  German  fleet  is  manned  by  compulsory  service  in  the  same 
manner  that  the  army  is  recruited.  Young  men  who  have  followed 
any  calling  connected  with  the  sea  are  drafted  into  the  navy  instead 


MAINZ    ON    THE     RHINE 
A  Heavily  Fortified  City,  and  the  German   Headquarters  During  the   Early  Part  of  the  War 

298 


THE    GERMAN    EMPIRE  299 

of  into  the  army,  and  volunteers  are  numerous  among  the  sea-faring 
classes.  The  German  navy  is  now  rated  as  second  only  to  that  of 
Great  Britain.  Great  Britain  is  incomparably  more  powerful  in  the 
number  and  tonnage  of  her  ships;  but  since  she  made  the  fatal  error 
of  building  her  "Dreadnought"  the  fighting  strength  of  the  world's 
navies  has  been  reckoned  mainly  in  terms  of  that  class,  and  in  the 
building  of  dreadnoughts  Germany  has  been  feverishly  active  ever 
since  1907.  At  the  end  of  1914,  Germany  will  have  completed  21 
dreadnoughts,  against  England's  31 ;  20  pre-dreadnought  battleships, 
against  England's  40;  47  cruisers,  against  England's  126;  152  de- 
stroyers, against  England's  248;  and  at  least  37  submarines,  against 
England's  85.  In  addition,  many  of  the  fast  ships  of  the  North  Ger- 
man Lloyd  and  the  Hamburg- American  lines  were  rated  as  auxiliary 
cruisers.  Most  of  these  ships,  however,  are  now  out  of  the  reach  of 
English  cruisers,  in  New  York,  Hamburg,  and  Bremen,  and  some 
have  been  sunk  during  hostilities.  The  most  important  naval  bases  are 
Kiel,  Sonderburg,  and  Dantzig,  in  the  Baltic,  and  Wilhelmshaven 
and  Cuxhaven  on  the  North  Sea.  The  small  island  of  Heligoland, 
facing  the  mouths  of  the  Weser  and  the  Elbe  in  the  North  Sea,  is 
heavily  fortified. 

It  is  known  that  Germany  possesses  far  more  dirigibles,  and  those 
of  greater  size,  power,  and  cruising  range  than  any  other  nation.  Just 
how  many  she  actually  has  constructed  has  not  been  divulged,  but  she 
undoubtedly  has  not  fewer  than  forty.  Germany  is  very  proud  of  and 
places  great  confidence  in  these  craft,  which  are  peculiarly  of  her  own 
contriving.  The  number  of  aeroplanes  in  her  naval  and  military  serv- 
ice is  also  a  matter  of  conjecture;  but  she  probably  has  about  700  ma- 
chines, in  addition  to  those  which  civilians  may  place  at  the  disposal  of 
the  government.  In  the  army  there  are  five  aeroplane  battalions, 
numbering  4,619  officers  and  men.  The  naval  estimates  for  the  year 
1914  called  for  an  expenditure  of  $118,735,000  contrasted  with  Eng- 
land's $250,877,000. 

Passing  from  military  and  naval  affairs  to  peaceful  pursuits,  now 
so  sadly  disrupted,  an  occupation-census  taken  in  1907  showed  that,  of 
a  population  of  31,497,000,  9,732,000  were  engaged  in  agriculture; 
11,256,000  in  industries  and  mining;  3,478,000  in  commerce;  1,736,000 
in  domestic  service;  while   1,738,000  were  classed  as  professional. 


THE  WAR   LORD  AT  MANEUVERS 
The  Kaiser  in  IMimic  Warfare  a  Few  (Months  before  the  Outbreak  of  Real  War 

300 


THE    GERMAN    EMPIRE 


301 


About  86,000,000  acres  of  land  are  under  cultivation,  while  34,569,000 
acres  are  in  timber-producing  forests,  carefully  nurtured  by  the  State 
in  accordance  with  scientific  forestry  methods.  The  war  situation 
gives  particular  significance  to  the  following  agricultural  statistics: 
In  1913  the  production  of  wheat  was  4,656,000  metric  tons;  of  rye, 
12,222,000  tons;  of  barley,  3,673,000  tons;  of  potatoes,  54,000,000 
tons;  of  hay,  29,000,000  tons;  of  oats,  9,700,000  tons.     The  metric 


German  Artillerymen  Pushing  Tiieir  Guns  up  a  Hill 


ton  is  almost  the  same  as  our  "long  ton,"  being  2,204  pounds.  An 
animal  census  taken  in  1912  showed  4,516,000  horses,  20,158,000  cat- 
tle, 5,788,000  sheep,  22,000,000  swine,  and  3,390,000  goats. 

In  1912  there  were  mined  174,875,000  metric  tons  of  coal,  80,934,- 
000  tons  of  lignite,  27,000,000  tons  of  iron  ore,  975,000  tons  of  copper 
ore,  143,000  tons  of  lead  ore,  1,296,000  tons  of  rock  salt,  and  11,000,- 
000  tons  of  potassic  salts.  The  total  value  of  the  minerals  mined  in 
1912  was  $564,000,000.  In  1913  the  furnaces  of  the  empire  produced 
19,292,000  tons  of  pig  iron. 


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)£    o 

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302 


THE    GERMAN    EMPIRE  303 

The  fisheries  of  Germany  employ  about  35,000  persons,  and  their 
yearly  product  is  valued  at  nearly  $100,000,000. 

The  manufactures  of  Germany  have  reached  colossal  proportions, 
and  the  Germans  excel  in  nearly  every  department  of  industry.  In 
some  lines,  such  as  chemicals  and  drugs,  they  have  almost  a  monopoly, 
as  Americans  have  discovered  to  their  cost.  They  have  been  very  ag- 
gressive in  the  conquest  of  foreign  trade,  and  they  attribute  Eng- 
land's participation  in  this  war  to  her  jealousy  of  their  rapidly  grow- 
ing foreign  commerce  and  of  their  splendid  merchant  marine.  It 
would  be  tedious  to  enumerate  the  items  of  German  exports  and  im- 
ports, but  we  will  give  some  significant  statistics.  In  1908  the  total 
value  of  Germany's  exports  was  $1,577,075,000;  of  imports,  $1,965,- 
000,000.  In  1913  the  exports  amounted  to  $2,212,000,000,  and  the  im- 
ports to  $2,602,450,000.  By  way  of  comparison  we  may  say  that  dur- 
ing the  same  year  Great  Britain's  exports  amounted  to  $3,090,900,000, 
and  her  imports  to  $3,742,628,000.  The  corresponding  figures  for  the 
United  States  are:  Exports,  $2,363,740,000,  and  imports,  $1,764,500,- 
000.  By  reason  of  this  war  Germany  has  placed  in  jeopardy  a  total 
yearly  trade  with  England  of  $477,000,000;  with  France,  $295,596,- 
000;  and  with  Russia,  $521,504,000.  Whatever  be  the  military  out- 
come of  the  war,  the  shock  sustained  by  German  commerce  must  be 
terrific. 

In  1914  there  were  registered  under  the  German  flag  2,321  vessels 
exceeding  100  tons  measurement,  with  a  total  tonnage  of  5,082,061, 
compared  with  11,287  vessels  under  the  British  flag,  with  a  tonnage  of 
20,431,543.  At  this  writing  there  is  hardly  a  German  ship  upon  the 
high  seas. 

The  railways  of  Germany  are  nearly  all  State-owned.  Out  of  a 
total  mileage  of  39,065,  all  but  2,926  belong  to  the  various  State  sys- 
tems. Of  these,  44  miles  are  classed  as  "royal  military."  The  rail- 
ways represent  a  capital  investment  of  $4,380,000,000.  In  1913  their 
combined  receipts  were  $799,740,000,  and  they  yielded  to  the  Govern- 
ment profits  of  $272,982,000  (6.23  per  cent.).  They  carry  annually 
about  1,643,000,000  passengers  and  570,741,000  metric  tons  of 
freight. 

Germany  has  a  magnificent  system  of  interior  waterways,'  her 
rivers  having  been  augmented  by  many  canals,  among  which  the 


304 


COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 


Kaiser- Wilhelm  Canal,  611/4  miles  long,  connecting  the  Baltic  with 
the  North  Sea  between  Kiel  and  the  estuary  of  the  Elbe,  is  the  most 
interesting  at  present  because  of  its  great  naval  significance.  Inci- 
dentally, we  may  mention  that  the  locks  of  the  Kaiser- Wilhelm  Canal 
are  about  70  per  cent,  larger  than  those  of  the  Panama  Canal.  Other 
great  interior  artificial  waterways  are  the  Dortmund-Ems  Canal 
(161^  miles),  and  the  Elbe-Trave  Canal  (42  miles).    In  all,  the  in- 


German  Cavalry  Crossing  a  Stream,  Horses  Propelling  tine  Boat 


ternal  navigable  waterways,  canals,  and  rivers  of  the  German  Empire 
have  a  total  length  of  8,832  miles. 

The  German  Empire  does  not  form  a  postal  unit,  as  Bavaria  and 
Wurttemberg  have  their  own  postal  systems.  The  rest  of  the  em- 
pire, however,  forms  an  "imperial  postal  district."  In  the  empire 
there  are  41,192  post  offices,  of  which  5,308  are  in  Bavaria  and  1,194 
in  Wurttemberg.  In  1912,  10,149,726,670  pieces  of  mail-matter — of 
which  3,405,372,400  were  letters  and  2,045,192,610  post-cards — passed 
through  German  post  offices,  and  $13,404,000,000  was  sent  in  money- 
orders.  The  postal  service  yielded  the  empire  (Bavaria  and  Wurt- 
temberg included)  the  handsome  surplus  of  $28,110,717,  which  is  in 
striking  contrast  with  the  operations  of  our  own  department. 

The  empire  has  about  144,000  miles  of  telegraph  line,  with  449,600 
miles  of  wire,  and  4,175,000  miles  of  telephone  wire.  The  telephone 
was  used  in  Germany  last  year  to  the  extent  of  about  2,327,000,000 
conversations. 

The  standard  coin  of  Germany  is  the  mark,  the  equivalent  of 
which  in  American  money  is  $0,238. 


THE   GERMAN    EMPIRE 


305 


German   Zeppelin    Maneuvering 


Inasmuch  as  the  German  colonies  are  now  exposed  to  attack 
the  following  list  of  the  German  possessions  will  be  of  interest : 

In  Africa — Togo,  Kamerun,  German  Southwest  Africa,  German 
East  Africa — with  a  total  estimated  area  of  931,460  square  miles  and 
an  estimated  population  of  11,422,000,  of  whom  only  22,405  are 
white. 

In  Asia — Kiauchau,  Kaiser  Wilhelm's  Land,  Bismarck  Archipel- 
ago, Caroline  Islands,  Palau  Islands,  Marianne  Islands,  Salomon 
Islands,  Marshall  Islands,  and  the  Samoan  Islands — with  a  total  area 
of  about  96,000  square  miles  and  a  population  of  about  635,000. 

In  all,  the  German  colonial  possessions  have  an  estimated  area  of 
1,027,820  square  miles,  and  a  population  of  12,041,603,  of  whom  only 
24,389  are  white. 

The  capital  of  the  German  Empire  is  Berlin  (population  2,071,- 
257).  Other  large  cities  are:  Hamburg  (931,035),  Munich  (596,- 
467),  Leipsic  (589,850),  Dresden  (548,308),  Cologne  (516,527), 
Breslau  (512,105),  Frankfort-on-the-Main  (414,576),  Dusseldorf 
(358,728),  Niirnberg   (333,142),  Charlottenburg  (305,978). 

On  July  31,  1914,  the  emperor  demanded  that  mobilization  in 
Russia  be  discontinued,  and  immediately  martial  law  was  proclaimed 
throughout  the  German  Empire.  The  next  day  war  was  declared 
against  Russia,  and  on  August  2  Russian  forces  entered  Germany. 
On  August  3  three  German  armies  were  set  in  motion  against  France, 
and  the  next  day  Germany  declared  war  against  that  country. 


GEORGE    V 

King  of  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  of  the  British  Dominions  Beyond 

the  Seas,  Emperor  of  India.     Born  in  London,  June  3,  1865.     Son  of  Edward  VII  and  of 

Alexandra,   Princess  of  Denmark.      Succeeded  on  the  death  of  his  father, 

May  6,  1910.     Married,  July  6,  1893,  Victoria  Mary,  Princess  of  Teck 

306 


THE    BRITISH    EMPIRE  307 

The  British  Empire — The  British  Empire  occupies  about  one 
quarter  of  the  known  land-surface  of  the  globe.  Its  population  ex- 
ceeds one  quarter  of  the  estimated  number  of  the  human  beings,  and 
includes  nearly  every  race  and  every  religion. 

The  United  Kingdom  consists  of  England,  Wales,  Scotland,  and 
Ireland. 

England,  comprising,  with  Wales,  the  southern  portion  of  the 
island  of  Great  Britain,  covers  an  area  of  58,320  square  miles,  and 
corresponds  in  latitude  with  Northern  Germany  and  the  Netherlands. 
It  is  nearly  triangular,  and  is  surrounded  by  the  sea,  except  for  a 
distance  of  seventy  miles  on  the  Scottish  border.  The  coast  is  much 
indented,  particularly  on  the  Atlantic  side.  The  total  length  of  the 
coast-line  is  estimated  at  2,000  miles.  No  part  of  the  country  is  far- 
ther than  fifty  miles  from  the  sea,  or  from  one  of  its  arms.  Of  the 
inlets,  the  most  important  are  the  Humber,  the  Wash,  and  the  mouth 
of  the  Thames  on  the  east  coast;  Portsmouth  Harbor,  Southampton 
Water,  Tor  Bay,  and  Plymouth  Sound  on  the  south;  and  the  Bristol 
Channel,  IVIilford  Haven,  the  Mersey,  and  Morecambe  Bay  on  the 
west.  Off  the  coast  there  are  several  islands,  or  groups  of  islands,  the 
most  important  of  which  are  the  Channel  Islands  (Jersey,  Guernsey, 
Alderney,  and  Sark)  ;  the  Scilly  Islands  off  Land's  End;  and  the  Isle 
of  Man,  in  the  Irish  Sea.  The  Isle  of  Wight  and  Anglesey  are  so 
close  to  the  mainland  that  they  almost  touch  the  coast. 

The  coast  is  constantly  changing.  ]Many  old  towns,  such  as  Ra- 
venspur  in  Yorkshire — where  Bolingbroke,  afterward  Henry  IV, 
landed  in  1399 — are  now  submerged;  and  it  is  a  common  occurrence 
for  the  pedestrian  rambling  over  the  cliffs  of  Kent,  Yorkshire,  or 
Sussex  to  find  the  path  ending  abruptly,  interrupted  by  a  precipice. 
In  some  places  the  action  of  the  waves  is  so  rapid  that  the  changes 
may  be  followed  from  week  to  week.  "Over  a  distance  of  thirty-six 
miles  between  Bridlington  and  Kilnsea,"  says  Professor  Phillips,  "the 
materials  which  fall  from  the  wasting  cliff  are  sorted  by  the  tide ;  the 
whole  shore  is  in  motion;  every  cliff  is  hastening  to  its  fall;  the  par- 
ishes are  contracted,  the  churches  wasted  away." 

As  regards  physical  structure,  England  has  been  described  as  "an 
epitome  of  the  geology  of  almost  the  whole  of  Europe."  Nearly  all 
the  formations  of  the  earth's  crust,  from  the  Silurian  upward  to  the 


ENGLAND  &  WALES 


Jaha  BartLalomcw  A  Ca 


THE    BRITISH    EMPIRE  309 

most  recent  deposits,  are  found  in  layers  in  different  parts  of  the 
country — ^mainly  in  order  from  north  to  south. 

In  conformity  with  the  geological  structure  of  England,  its  moun- 
tains lie  in  the  north  and  west,  rolling  gently  toward  the  center  and 
south.  The  Cheviot  Hills,  running  alnlost  directly  east  and  west, 
form  a  gentle  natural  boundary  between  England  and  Scotland. 

Their  highest  summit,  Cheviot  Peak  in  Northumberland,  rises 
2,676  feet  above  the  sea.  This  chain  merges  southwestward  into  the 
mountain  ranges  of  Cumberland  and  Westmoreland,  and  within 
these  ranges  is  the  celebrated  Lake  District,  where  lie  the  only  notable 
lakes  in  England,  the  largest  of  which,  Windermere,  covers  only 
eight  square  miles.  From  the  Cheviots  the  Pennine  Range  runs  at 
right  angles,  continuing  south  into  Derbyshire,  where  the  famous 
Peak  rises  (2,088  feet),  five  miles  northwest  of  Castleton,  with  its 
celebrated  caverns.  South  of  the  Peak  district  extends  the  central 
plain,  or  plateau,  about  five  hundred  feet  above  the  sea-level.  On  the 
south  are  Salisbury  Plain,  a  tract  of  rolling  downs  with  barrows  and 
ancient  remains,  including  the  famous  Stonehenge;  the  Chilterns;  the 
Marlborough  Downs;  the  North  Downs;  and  the  South  Downs.  The 
mountains  rise  again  in  Wales,  attaining  their  greatest  height  in  the 
Snowdon  Range  (3,571  feet).  Then  the  chain  running  through 
Gloucestershire,  Wilts,  and  Somerset  rises  into  a  high  tableland  in 
Devonshire,  reaching  its  height  in  Dartmoor  Forest  (1,500  feet),  and 
declining  gradually  to  the  Land's  End.  As  the  mountains  are  chiefly 
in  the  west,  the  principal  rivers  flow  toward  the  east.  Of  the  navigable 
streams,  the  most  important  is  the  Thames.  Rising  in  the  Cotswold 
Hills  above  Oxford,  where  it  is  known  as  the  Isis,  it  flows  through 
sylvan  scenery,  a  narrow,  silvery  thread  of  water;  but  at  London 
Bridge  it  has  a  width  of  266  yards,  and  below  Gravesend  it  expands 
into  an  estuary  five  miles  wide  at  the  Nore.  The  tide  ascends  to  Ted- 
dington,  the  upper  limit  of  the  port  of  London.  Vessels  of  4,000  tons 
reach  Blackwall;  river  steamers  go,  by  means  of  locks,  to  Oxford; 
barges  to  Lechlade ;  and  small  barges  to  Cricklade.  The  great  forests 
of  masts  and  lines  of  smokestacks  in  the  miles  of  docks  are  a  never- 
forgotten  sight.  The  stretch  between  the  Tower  and  Wapping  Old 
Stairs,  called  the  Pool,  is  always  full  of  shipping.  The  Thames, 
therefore,  is  a  river  of  contrasts.    Essentially  a  pleasure  stream  in  its 


BRITISH     ADMIRAL     AND     DISTINGUISHED     POLITICAL      LEADERS 

310 


THE    BRITISH    EMPIRE 


811 


upper  reaches,  winding  through  meadows  and  past  lordly  homes,  an- 
cient castles,  and  such  historic  places  as  Windsor,  Runnymede,  Eton, 
and  Hampton  Court,  always  bright  and  alive  with  row-boats,  and 
often  the  scene  of  regattas,  as  at  Henley  and  Kingston,  it  becomes  at 
London  a  dark  and  somber  river,  spanned  by  great  bridges  and  at- 
tracting to  its  heart  the  varied  shipping  of  the  world.  Every  imag- 
inable craft  gathers  here,  from  coal-barges  with  their  heavy,  bronzed 
red  sails  to  the  East-India  merchantman  and  the  ocean  liner. 


Bank  of  England — London 


Royal  Exchange — London 


Next  in  importance  to  the  Thames  comes  the  Humber,  formed  by 
the  Trent  and  the  Ouse,  draining  about  one  sixth  of  England.  The 
Witham,  the  Welland,  and  the  Nen  flow  into  the  estuary  of  the  Wash. 

On  the  wTst  the  chief  river  is  the  Severn,  its  headwaters  parted 
from  the  Thames  by  the  Cotswold  Hills.  Like  the  Thames,  it  begins 
its  career  of  two  hundred  miles  in  gentle  meadows,  and  flows  through 
historic  and  romantic  scenery.  Then  it  winds  through  Shropshire  and 
Worcestershire  to  Tewkesbury  and  Gloucester,  to  which  point  ascends 
a  tidal  wave,  or  "bore." 

One  of  the  Severn's  tributaries  is  the  peaceful  Warwickshire  Avon, 
which  joins  it  at  Tewkesbury,  after  passing  Stratford,  famous  as  the 
birthplace  of  Shakespeare.  The  Avon,  entering  the  Bristol  Charmel 
six  miles  below  Bristol,  is  subject  to  spring  tides  of  forty  feet. 


FIELD    MARSHAL    EARL     KITCHENER    OF     KHARTUM 
British  Secretary  of  State  for  War 

312 


THE    BRITISH    EMPIRE  313 

Next  in  commercial  importance  to  the  Thames  comes  the  Mersey, 
winding  through  Lancashire  and  Cheshire,  receiving  the  Irwell,  and 
expanding  at  Liverpool  into  a  wide  estuary. 

Into  the  English  Channel  flow  the  Sussex  Ouse,  the  Itchen,  and 
the  Axe,  Teign,  Dart,  Tamar,  and  Exe — all  remarkable  for  pictur- 
esque scenery. 

Internal  communication  is  served  to  some  extent  by  canals  and 
rivers,  but  mainly  by  railways.  The  canal  system  connects  the  west 
of  England  with  the  north,  and  the  east  with  the  south.  Together  it 
presents,  with  the  navigable  rivers,  a  waterway  of  5,000  miles,  the 
canals  amounting  to  about  3,200  miles.  The  Bridgewater  system  and 
the  Ship  Canal  give  Liverpool  and  Manchester  water  connection. 

The  long  coast-line  is  marked  by  numerous  and  easily  accessible 
harbors.  Some  of  these  are  purely  natural;  others  have  been  im- 
j^roved  by  artificial  harbor-works.  The  greatest  ports  are  London 
and  Liverpool. 

The  continental  ports  are  Hull,  Grimsby,  Harwich,  Folkestone, 
and  Dover.  The  chief  fishing-ports  are  Grimsby,  Boston,  Dover, 
Yarmouth,  and  Lowestoft.  London,  Liverpool,  and  Bristol  are  great 
marts  for  American  cotton ;  while  the  coal  and  metal  ports  are  Cardiff, 
Newport,  and  Swansea  (in  Wales),  and,  on  the  Tyne  and  the  north- 
east coast,  Newcastle,  the  Shields,  Sunderland,  and  Middlesborough. 

The  coal  of  Great  Britain  (about  230,000,000  tons  annually)  is 
mined  mainly  in  Yorkshire,  South  Durham,  Glamorgan,  Monmouth, 
Derby,  Nottingham,  Northumberland,  Lancashire,  Staffordshire,  and 
Lanarkshire.  Iron  is  mined  in  South  Stafford,  North  Yorkshire, 
South  Durham,  South  Wales,  Barrow,  Middlesborough,  and  the 
Black  Country ;  tin  is  worked  in  Devon  and  Cornwall ;  and  salt  is  pro- 
duced in  Cheshire  and  Worcestershire. 

The  chief  manufactures  have  grown  up  mainly  on  the  great  coal- 
fields, the  woollen  industry  in  the  West  Riding  of  Yorkshire,  the 
cotton  industry  in  Lancashire;  hosiery,  etc.,  in  Derby  and  Notting- 
ham ;  potteries  and  iron  in  Staffordshire ;  iron  and  metal  industries  in 
Middlesborough,  South  Durham,  South  Staffordshire,  and  South 
Wales;  chemical  and  other  industries  in  St.  Helen's,  Newcastle,  and 
Birmingham;  shipbuilding  on  the  Tyne.  To  these  may  be  added  the 
manufacture  of  machinery  in  Birmingham,  Manchester,  Bolton,  and 


S14< 


COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 


other  industrial  centers;  agricultural  machinery  in  Ipswich,  Lincoln, 
and  Bedford;  railway  engines  and  stock  in  the  railway  centers  of 
Crew^e,  Derby,  and  Swindon;  leather  in  Northampton,  Bristol,  Lei- 
cester, Birmingham,  Walsall,  and  London;  and  cutlery  in  Sheffield. 
Notwithstanding  its  natural  advantages,  England  has  been  re- 
garded as  backward  in  its  agriculture.  This  is  owing  to  the  great 
advantages  the  -country  possesses  for  the  prosecution  of  manufacture. 
Its  wheat  capacity  is  high,  however — thirty  bushels  to  an  acre.  Wheat 


British  troops  at  maneuvers.     The  band  around  the  cap  shows  they  are  of  the   "White  Army" 


is  grown  chiefly  in  the  eastern  counties,  Shropshire,  and  the  south- 
west. Other  cereals  grow  well  in  the  north.  Cattle  and  dairy-farm- 
ing form  an  occupation  of  the  counties  of  Cheshire,  Devonshire,  and 
Staffordshire.  Sheep  are  plentiful  in  the  counties  of  Nottingham, 
Leicester,  Rutland,  Northampton,  Lincoln,  Yorkshire,  Devonshire, 
and  other  southern  counties. 

Aif  ected  by  its  insular  position  and  by  the  Gulf  Stream,  the  cli- 
mate of  England  is  much  milder  than  that  of  any  other  country  in 
the  same  latitude  on  the  Continent  of  Europe,  or  in  America.  Eng- 
land has  been  therefore  described  as  "a  great  hothouse  kept  above  the 
surrounding  temperature  by  never-ending  currents  of  warm  air."  The 
Gulf  Stream  brings  both  warmth  and  moisture,  and  as  warm,  moist 


THE    BRITISH    EMPIRE  315 

winds  from  the  southwest  prevail,  much  rain  is  discharged  all  over  the 
land.  All  these  causes  render  the  ground  extremely  fertile.  Notwith- 
standing the  wonderful  greenness  of  the  grass,  the  luxuriance  of  the 
foliage,  and  the  brightness  of  the  colors  of  many  flowers  that  make 
the  gardens  of  England  dreams  of  beauty,  the  sun  shines  feebly,  and 
many  fruits  and  vegetables  ripen  only  upon  walls  and  trellises,  or 
under  glass.  Peaches,  tomatoes,  nectarines,  and  apricots,  common 
enough  in  America,  are,  therefore,  luxuries  in  the  British  Isles. 

Nearly  all  England  is  settled  and  cultivated,  although  well-wooded 
land  is  common;  but  such  districts  belong  to  old  estates,  or  to  royal 
domains,  or  are  reservations  belonging  to  the  public  and  known  as 
"Forests,"  such  as  Epping  Forest,  the  New  Forest,  Dean,  and  Sal- 
cey.  These  might  be  more  appropriately  called  parks,  as  they  are 
carefully  superintended  by  "forest-rangers"  and  are  in  fact  extensive 
pleasure-grounds,  with  little  suggestion  of  native  wildness.  They  are 
diversified  with  patches  of  heath  between  the  groves  of  trees,  stretches 
of  emerald  sward,  and  occasional  hamlets.  Epping  Forest,  ten  miles 
from  London,  for  example,  comprises  5,300  acres,  being  onl}^  a  rem- 
nant of  the  great  Waltham  Forest.  New  Forest,  in  Hampshire,  cov- 
ers 62,648  acres  of  woodland,  interspersed  with  open  glades  and 
stretches  of  moor  and  marsh,  quaint  old  villages,  churches,  and  ruins 
of  abbeys  and  monasteries.  It  was  enclosed  by  William  the  Con- 
queror in  1079.  In  the  extreme  west  and  in  Yorkshire  the  bleak 
moorlands,  and  in  the  southern  counties  the  downs,  are  characteristic, 
as  are  the  chalk-clifFs  on  the  southern  shore,  broken  by  gaps  and 
topped  with  verdure. 

Altogether,  with  its  mountains,  rivers,  valleys,  lakes,  moors,  dales, 
meadows,  marshes  (such  as  the  Norfolk  Broads),  forests,  parks, 
chalk-clifFs,  and  downs,  England  makes  a  strong  appeal  to  the  lover 
of  beautii'ul  scenery  that  possesses  the  additional  charm  of  historic 
and  legendary  interest.  Ancient  and  splendid  architecture — cathe- 
drals, castles,  old  abbeys,  and  ancestral  homes  of  lords  and  country 
gentlemen,  as  well  as  picturesque  inns  and  cottages  of  the  lowly — all 
enclosed  in  soft  frames  of  trees  and  hedges — combine  in  i)roducing  a 
series  of  delightful  pictures,  unlike  those  offered  by  any  other  coun- 
try, to  which  the  peculiar  mistiness  of  the  atmosphere  gives  an  inde- 
scribable delicacy  and  depth  of  tint  and  color. 


BRITISH    COMMANDERS   ON    LAND   AND    SEA 


Field   Marshal   Sir  John    French,    Regarded  as         Admiral    Sir   George    Callaghan,    of   the    War   Staff 
the  Greatest  Living  Cavalry  ComiViander  Of  the  Admiralty 

316 


THE    BRITISH    EMPIRE  317 

London,  with  its  population  of  more  than  seven  millions,  is  the 
largest  city  in  the  world.  Its  age  is  lost  in  antiquity.  What  is  known 
as  the  City — the  district  enclosed  within  a  wall  in  olden  days — lies  on 
the  north  bank  of  the  Thames,  stretching  between  the  river  and  Fins- 
bury,  and  from  the  Tower  to  the  site  of  Temple  Bar  (now  removed) . 
In  both  size  and  shape  it  corresponds  very  nearly  to  ancient  Roman 
London,  and  its  chief  thoroughfares — Cannon  Street,  Cheapside, 
Bishopsgate  Street,  and  others — run  over  the  sites  of  Roman  roads. 
Four  bridges — Blackfriars,  Southwark,  London,  and  Tower — con- 
nect the  City  with  the  Borough  of  Southwark.    The  Tower  of  Lon- 


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English   Recruits   Drilling   in    Hyde   Park 

don  is  an  epitome  of  English  history.  Within  the  City  are  such  famous 
buildings  as  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  the  Mansion  House  (the  official 
residence  of  the  Lord  Mayor),  the  Bank  of  England,  the  Post-office 
(enclosing  a  portion  of  the  old  Roman  wall),  St.  Bartholomew's 
Church  in  Smithfield  (the  finest  example  of  Norman  architecture  in 
London) ,  and  the  Monument  commemorating  the  Great  Fire  of  1666. 
Temple  Bar,  at  the  junction  of  Fleet  Street  and  the  Strand, 
marked  the  beginning  of  the  City  of  Westminster,  the  greatest  bor- 
ough of  Greater  London.  Architecturally  and  historically,  Westmin- 
ster ranks  next  in  interest  to  the  City.  On  its  river-front  in  the  old 
days  stood  the  great  houses  of  princes  and  nobles,  now  occupied  by 
the  Victoria  Embankment  between  Blackfriars  and  Westminster 
bridges.  At  the  west  end  of  the  Strand  is  Trafalgar  Square,  contain- 
ing Nelson's  column  guarded  by  Landseer's  four  lions,  not  far  from 
the  National  Gallery  and  St.  Martin's-in-the-Fields.  The  Houses  of 
Parhament,  Westminster  Abbey,  and  Whitehall  lie  south  of  Trafal- 


318  COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 

gar  Square,  and  north  of  it  one  passes  up  the  Haj-market  to  the  great 
"west  end"  circle — Piccadillj^  Circus,  from  which  radiate  various  thor- 
oughfares. In  this  district  Pall  Mall  leads  to  Buckingham  Palace, 
with  its  spacious  grounds.  Vast  London  is  not  only  interesting  be- 
cause of  its  monuments  and  historical  associations,  but  for  its  swarm- 
ing crowds  of  humanitj%  ever  moving  in  a  steady  stream  and  repre- 
senting eveiy  class  from  persons  of  the  most  magnificent  state  to  those 
of  the  most  sodden  and  squalid  condition. 

Among  England's  greatest  treasures  is  Oxford,  the  seat  of  the 
oldest  ^English  university,  with  a  history  dating  from  912,  when  it 
was  recovered  by  King  Edward  from  the  Danes.  It  began  to  be  a 
college  town  in  1214.  With  its  churches  of  St.  Michael,  St.  Peter's 
in  the  East,  St.  Cross,  and  Christ  Church  Cathedral,  Oxford  would  be 
renowned  for  architecture  of  great  beauty;  but  to  these  are  added 
more  than  twenty  colleges  that  are  gems  of  medieval  art.  The  cele- 
brated Bodleian  Library,  restored  bj^  Sir  Thomas  Bodley  in  1598, 
with  its  magnificent  collection  of  manuscript  volumes  (30,000  to 
40,000)  and  700,000  books — the  public  library  of  Oxford  University 
— ranks  with  the  British  JVIuseum  as  one  of  England's  most  glorious 
possessions. 

Cambridge  vies  with  Oxford  in  splendid  architecture.  King's  Col- 
lege and  Queen's  College,  founded  in  1441  and  1448,  are  beautiful 
specimens  of  stone  work,  wood  work,  and  glass.  Clare  College  is  even 
more  admired  by  some  critics. 

The  great  cathedrals  of  Canterbury,  Durham,  Ely,  Exeter,  Glou- 
cester, Hereford,  Lichfield,  Lincoln,  Norwich,  Peterborough,  Ripon, 
Rochester,  St.  Albans,  Salisbury,  Southwark,  Wells,  Winchester, 
Worcester,  and  York  exhibit  many  features  that  are  unlike  the  archi- 
tecture of  the  Continent.  All  have  been  built  and  rebuilt  on  sites 
consecrated  to  religious  uses  even  before  the  days  of  Christianity. 

In  the  days  of  King  Cnut  (or  Canute)  England  began  to  enter 
into  the  aiFairs  of  the  outside  world.  Cnut,  like  most  great  conquer- 
ors, was  an  able  administrator.  Once  safely  on  the  throne,  he  began 
to  govern.  Sending  back  to  Denmark  his  famous  army,  he  kept  a 
body  of  chosen  housecarls — Danes,  English,  artd  others,  noted  for 
bravery — around  his  throne,  the  first  standing  army  known  in  Eng- 
land.   Up  to  this  time  the  title  had  been  King  of  the  English,  never 


THE    BRITISH    EMPIRE 


319 


King  of  England.  Cnut  used  the  special  style  of  King  of  all  Eng- 
land {Reoo  totius  Anglice).  In  his  reign,  too,  the  relations  between 
England  and  Normandy  began  to  be  of  great  importance,  and  the 
seeds  were  sown  that  ripened  into  the  Norman  Conquest.  The  enor- 
mous empire  that  obeyed  Cnut's  scepter,  consisting  of  scattered 
islands  and  peninsulas,  was  too  large  and  disconnected  to  hold  to- 
fifether.    The  election  of  Edward  the  Confessor  to  the  throne  was  in 


A    Detachment  of   English    Infantry 


some  measure  the  beginning  of  the  Norman  Conquest.  Edward  had 
been  educated  in  Normandy,  spoke  the  Norman  tongue;  and  more 
Norman  than  English,  he  filled  every  post  at  court  with  Norman  fa- 
vorites, who  soon  plotted  against  Englishmen;  and  a  Norman  monk, 
Robert  of  Jumieges,  was  made  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 

The  actual  Norman  Conquest  came  in  1066.  The  spirit  of  Eng- 
lishmen was  aroused  by  the  return  of  Godwine  and  his  sons,  and  the 
nation  rose  to  receive  them.  The  army  that  the  king  called  together 
refused  to  fight  against  the  deliverers,  the  citizens  of  London  decreed 


320 


THE    BRITISH    EMPIRE  321 

the  banishment  of  the  archbishop  and  other  Normans  in  power,  and 
Norman  influence  in  pubhc  afl*airs  was  ended.  "England  for  the 
English"  was  the  cry.  Under  Harold,  England  held  a  high  place  at 
home  and  abroad.  The  story  of  his  relations  with  Duke  William  of 
Normandy  is  variously  told;  but  it  is  generally  accepted  that  he  was 
shipwrecked  on  the  coast  of  Normandy,  was  imprisoned  there,  and 
was  released  by  the  aid  of  William,  to  whom  he  swore  an  oath  that 
he  would  help  William  to  obtain  the  succession.  Thus  the  crown  of 
England  became  a  personal  matter  between  William  of  Normandy 
and  Harold. 

The  Norman  Conquest  was  a  great  revolution  for  England.  It 
rooted  up  ancient  traditions  and  changed  the  European  position  of 
the  realm.  Britain  was  ruled  by  a  continental  prince,  who  introduced 
foreign  ideas  and  customs  into  a  country  partially  prepared  to  accept 
them.  French  became  the  fashionable  language,  as  Latin  was  the 
language  of  the  learned.  Architecture  was  changed.  The  Norman 
abbots  and  bishops  pulled  down  old  minsters  and  erected  churches  on 
a  gigantic  scale  never  before  seen  in  England;  and  Norman  castles, 
begun  in  the  days  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  were  multiplied.  The 
Tower  of  Lbndon  reared  its  massive  keep ;  great  changes  were  made 
in  the  art  of  fortification ;  and  new  fashions  in  dress  and  diet,  as  well 
as  in  manners,  regulated  society.  The  Normans  also  brought  in  for- 
eign merchants  and  scholars  and  much  that  added  to  the  arts  and 
graces  of  life.  It  was  largely  owing  to  the  Norman  influence  upon 
society  that  England  took  part  in  the  Crusades.  In  fact,  Normandy 
and  the  Normans  mean  so  much  in  the  relation  of  England  to  the 
history  of  the  European  Continent  that  some  knowledge  of  the  old 
French  duchy  is  necessary  for  a  full  understanding  of  the  question. 
The  Norman  (a  softened  form  of  the  name  Northmen)  is  distin- 
guished from  the  latter  by  his  adoption  of  the  French  language  and 
the  Christian  religion.  Normandy,  which,  in  its  strict  sense,  was  the 
seaboard  of  France  between  Brittanj'-  on  one  side  and  Flanders  on  the 
other,  therefore  lies  directly  opposite  Great  Britain.  It  was  occupied 
early  in  the  tenth  century  by  the  Northmen.  To  the  original  territory 
William  I  added  more  land ;  and  thus  the  settlement  of  Rolf  at  Rouen 
grew  into  the  Duchy  of  Normandy.  France  was  but  a  rival  duke- 
dom, and  as  long  as  the  Norman  duchy  had  an  independent  being,  it 


322  COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 

was  interposed  between  England  and  France.  France  and  Nor- 
mandy were  two  great  rival  duchies.  No  diplomacy  could  adjust  their 
troubles ;  and  this  rivalry  was  a  most  important  element  in  the  history 
of  Europe.  England  took  up  Normandy's  cause.  France  was  di- 
vided in  speech  and  sentiment;  the  kings  of  Laon,  on  the  east,  were 
Germanic;  the  great  country  of  Flanders  spoke  Low  Dutch;  Breton, 
in  the  west,  was  Celtic ;  the  lands  south  of  the  Loire  had  a  variety  of 
the  Romance  language ;  while  in  the  center  lay  the  Duchy  of  France, 
of  which  Paris  was  the  center  and  cradle — land  of  the  newborn 
French  speech  and  French  nationality. 

The  rise  of  Normandy,  a  power  torn  from  the  side  of  France 
which  cut  off  Paris  and  the  whole  Duchy  of  France  from  the  sea,  had 
been  a  great  blow  to  French  interest.  Both  were  vassal  States  of  the 
Carlovingian  king  at  Laon,  who,  notwithstanding  his  dignity,  was  a 
prince  of  smaller  power  than  either  of  his  mighty  vassals.  In  the 
tenth  century,  Normandy  rose  against  Laon,  and  Rouen,  once  friendly 
to  Laon  and  hostile  to  Paris,  changed  her  policy.  Normandy  became 
the  faithful  and  powerful  ally  of  France ;  and  the  Norman  duchy  had 
a  large  share  in  helping  Hugh  Capet  of  Paris  to  the  crown.  Nor- 
mandy thus  turned  the  balance  of  power  in  favor  of  the  French,  rul- 
ing that  France  should  be  the  chief  power  in  Gaul ;  that  the  Duke  of 
the  French  and  King  of  France  be  one  and  the  same  person,  and 
Paris  the  ruling  city.  The  Duke  of  Normandy  thus  became  the  most 
cherished  vassal  of  the  king.  Though  Normandy  owed  to  France  its 
introduction  to  the  Christian  and  Romance-speaking  world,  and 
France  owed  to  Normandy  its  new  position  among  the  Powers  of 
Gaul,  feelings  of  rivalry  and  dislike  cropped  up  now  and  then.  The 
old  border  district,  Vexin,  between  Rouen  and  Paris,  was  often  a  bone, 
of  contention. 

After  the  accession  of  William  I,  periods  of  enmity  alternated 
with  periods  of  friendship.  William  established  his  authority  over 
rival  factions  in  the  fight  of  Val-es-dunes,  and  thereafter  made  his 
Duchy  of  Normandy  not  only  one  of  the  most  flourishing  parts  of 
Gaul,  but  of  Europe  as  well.  He  repaid  the  King  of  France's  help 
at  Val-es-dunes  by  assistance  in  his  wars  with  Geoffrey  of  Anjou. 
This  led  to  a  long  rivalry  between  Anjou  and  Normandj^  which  re- 
sulted in  a  struggle  for  Maine,  lying  between  the  two.    In  1048  Wil- 


THE    BRITISH    EMPIRE 


323 


r'''-\,  «^. .«-  i--'  ^^ 

i^HllllM[pV^^HMB^V'!!^^Ki^^S^I 

A    Detachment  of   England's   "Women's    Nursing   Yeomanry   Corps" 


liam  extended  his  frontier  there,  and  in  1063  he  obtained  possession  of 
Le  Mans. 

The  conquest  of  England  by  William  changed  the  position  of 
the  duchy  as  a  European  Power.  In  one  sense  its  position  was  low- 
ered; but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  became  part  of  a  Power  far  greater 
than  the  Duchy  of  Normandy  had  ever  been.  For  a  long  time  the 
sovereign  of  the  two  lands  was  able  to  use  the  strength  of  England  for 
Norman  purposes.  Much  of  the  best  that  was  in  Normandy,  as  re- 
gards blood,  talent,  and  performance,  crossed  the  Channel  into  the 
conquered  kingdom.  Under  the  Angevin  house,  Normandy  and  Eng- 
land became  parts  of  one  of  those  heterogeneous  dominions  like  that 
of  Burgundy  under  the  Valois  dukes.  Normandy  handed  on  to  Eng- 
land its  old  enmity  toward  France. 

After  the  death  of  William  the  Conqueror,  Normandy  fell  into 
anarchy ;  and  after  various  parts  of  the  duchy  were  lost  and  won  and 
lost  again,  Henry  invaded  it,  and,  at  the  Battle  of  Tinchbrai,  in  1106, 
united  the  kingdom  and  duchy  once  again. 

It  was  now  not  the  Duke  of  Normandy  who  ruled  in  England, 
but  the  King  of  the  Enghsh  who  ruled  in  Normandy.    It  is  notice- 


824  COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 

able  that  the  two  great  Norman  rulers — Henry  of  England  and  Rob- 
ert of  Sicily — each  kept  his  island  kingdom  in  perfect  peace  while  he 
used  his  continental  territory  as  a  battle-ground. 

Henry  absorbed  another  duchj^  to  his  possessions  by  marrying  his 
daughter  to  Geoffrey  Plantagenet,  son  of  Falk,  Count  of  Anjou  and 
Maine. 

Geoffrey  gradually  possessed  himself  of  Normandy,  and  in  1150 
resigned  the  duchj^  to  his  son  Henry,  who  in  1152  married  Eleanor,  the 
divorced  wife  of  Louis  VII,  Countess  in  her  own  right  of  Poitou  and 
Duchess  of  Aquitaine.  Henry,  through  his  father,  mother,  and  wife, 
had  a  collection  of  dominions  that  made  him  more  powerful  than  his 
overlord,  the  King  of  the  French.  In  1154,  therefore,  began  the 
memorable  thirty-five  years'  reign  of  Henry  II,  King  of  England. 
During  his  reign  and  that  of  his  eldest  son,  the  connection  between 
England  and  the  Continent  was  closer  than  ever.  On  the  death  of 
Richard  in  1199,  John's  succession  was  admitted  in  both  England 
and  Normandy.  The  French  king,  Philip  Augustus,  seized  Nor- 
mandy in  1203-'04!;  but  the  Channel  Islands — Jersey,  Guernsey,  Al- 
derney,  and  Sark — still  held  to  the  duke  and  have  since  remained  in  the 
possession  of  the  kings  of  England,  though  they  never  have  been  in- 
corporated into  the  United  Kingdom. 

Freeman  writes :  "The  fact  that  the  English  kings  kept  Aqui- 
taine after  the  loss  of  Normandy — for  the  inheritance  of  Eleanor  was 
not  forfeited  by  the  crime  of  her  son — was  the  immediate  occasion  of 
many  of  the  later  disputes  between  England  and  France ;  but  the  tra- 
ditional feeling  was  handed  on  from  the  days  when  Englishmen  and 
Normans  fought  side  by  side  against  Frenchmen.  In  Normandy  it- 
self, the  memory  of  the  connection  with  England  soon  died  out.  We 
read — and  it  seems  strange  as  we  read — of  the  quarrels  which,  in  the 
days  of  Edward  I,  arose  between  the  crowns  of  England  and  France 
out  of  the  disputes  between  Norman  subjects  of  France  and  Gascon 
subjects  of  England." 

On  the  reign  of  Henry  II  the  fusion  of  English  and  Norman  was 
complete ;  the  English  nation  was  united.  The  fame  of  England  was 
spread  throughout  all  lands  by  her  share  in  the  Crusades,  and  another 
jewel  was  added  to  the  crown  by  the  conquest,  or  half -conquest,  of 
Ireland.    Henry  also  took  back  the  earldoms  of  Northumberland  and 


THE    BRITISH    EMPIRE  325 

Cumberland  on  the  Scottish  frontier,  and  warred  endlessly  on  the 
Welsh  frontier.  Wales  was  conquered  and  made  a  part  of  the  king- 
dom in  the  reign  of  Edward  I.  The  Scottish  crown  was  more  diffi- 
cult to  acquire.  The  struggles  were  long  and  full  of  romantic  inci- 
dent, producing  such  heroes  as  William  Wallace  and  Robert  Bruce, 
and  a  host  of  border  ballads  and  songs.  The  old  saying  that  if  the 
King  of  England  would  win  and  preserve  French  territory,  he  must 
first  suppress  Scotland,  sent  the  flower  of  English  chivalry  to  Ban- 
nockburn  and  Flodden  Field.  The  French  aided  the  Scots;  and  the 
English  made  alliance  with  the  Flemings.  Then  followed  the  Hun- 
dred Years'  War. 

With  the  loss  of  Bordeaux  in  1453,  after  the  death  of  the  great 
Earl  of  Shrewsbury,  the  tie  of  three  hundred  years  which  united  Eng- 
land and  Aquitaine  was  broken.  England  now  held  no  continental 
possessions  but  Calais,  Boulogne,  Dunkirk,  and  Gibraltar.  The  en- 
tire relations  of  France  and  England  were  changed,  and  their  modern 
relations  date  from  this  period. 

England  now  gradually  drew  into  shape;  but  not  without  great 
and  bloody  internal  dissensions,  such  as  the  Wars  of  the  Roses,  Henry 
VIII's  overthrow  of  papal  supremacy  and  instituting  himself  as  "Su- 
preme Head  on  Earth  of  the  Church  of  England" ;  the  persecutions 
alternately  of  Roman  Catholics  and  Protestants;  the  suppression  of 
the  monasteries,  and  the  consequent  pilgrimage  of  grace,  doubly  a  po- 
litical and  religious  movement;  the  rise  of  the  Puritan  party;  the 
overthrow  of  Charles  I  and  his  execution;  the  Protectorate,  anarchy, 
and  restoration  of  the  monarchy ;  the  rise  of  the  Whigs  and  Tories ; 
and  the  revolution  that  transformed  the  ultimate  decision  from  the 
king  to  parliament. 

William,  Prince  of  Orange,  invited  in  1689  to  take  the  throne  with 
his  wife  Mary  (a  Stuart),  by  the  advice  of  the  Earl  of  Sunderland, 
called  into  existence  a  body  destined  to  be  of  great  importance  in  gov- 
ernment— the  cabinet — selected  from  the  leading  members  of  both 
houses  of  parliament. 

In  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne,  the  Duke  of  Marlborough,  by  his 
supreme  genius  won  great  prestige  for  English  arms  at  Blenheim, 
which  drove  the  French  out  of  Germany  (1704) ;  and  at  Ramillies, 
which  drove  them  out  of  the  Netherlands  (1706) .    The  incapacity  of 


326 


COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 


The  Grenadier  Guards  Passing   Buckingham  Palace — Members  of  the  Royal   Family  at  the  Gate 


the  foreign-born  Hanoverians — George  I  and  George  II — was  bal- 
anced by  the  efficiency  of  Walpole,  prime  minister  in  both  reigns.  He 
gradually  altered  the  English  constitution  from  a  hereditary  mon- 
archy into  a  parliamentary  government,  the  forms  of  the  constitu- 
tion becoming  in  all  essentials  what  they  are  now. 

England  went  through  a  great  period  of  change  during  the  Seven* 
Years'  War  (1756-1763).  England  and  Prussia  formed  an  aUiance 
against  Austria,  France,  Russia,  and  the  Overman  princes.  Pitt's 
object,  to  make  England  the  foremost  colonial  and  maritime  power  in 
the  world,  was  accomplished. 

The  Battle  of  Plassey  gave  Bengal  into  Clive's  hands  in  1757; 
Quebec  fell  before  Wolfe  in  1759;  and  Sir  E\Te  Coote's  victory  at 
Wandewash  in  1760  crushed  French  authority  in  southern  India. 

At  the  coronation  of  George  III  a  jewel  fell  from  his  crown.  It 
was  a  bad  omen.  The  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act  (1765)  eventually 
led  to  the  American  War  for  Independence,  and  the  thirteen  populous 


THE    BRITISH    EMPIRE  327 

and  important  colonies  were  lost  forever.  In  1783  the  Treaties  of 
Paris  and  Versailles  ended  the  war,  and  the  independence  of  the 
United  States  of  America  was  recognized.  Before  peace  was  made, 
Lord  North  had  fallen  and  the  Whigs  had  again  taken  office.  The 
death  of  their  leader.  Lord  Rockingham,  in  1782,  threw  them  into  con- 
fusion, and  then  the  coalition  of  Fox  and  North  was  formed.  This 
proved  unpopular;  William  Pitt  was  placed  at  the  head  of  affairs, 
and  he  remained  prime  minister  until  1801.  His  ministry  witnessed 
the  industrial  revolution  that  made  England  the  first  manufacturing 
country  in  the  world,  and  this  coincided  with  a  remarkable  develop- 
ment of  England's  imperial  responsibilities.  Numerous  India  bills,  a 
more  enlightened  view  with  regard  to  Ireland,  and  a  tendency  toward 
reform,  financial,  political,  and  social,  represent  the  principal  effects 
of  the  American  war  upon  home  politics.  Pitt,  to  keep  the  peace  of 
Europe  as  far  as  possible  and  to  restore  England's  prestige,  formed, 
in  1788,  with  Prussia  and  Holland,  the  Triple  Alliance.  Pitt's  re- 
forming and  peace  policy  was  much  checked  by  the  French  Revolu- 
tion. In  1793  France  forced  England  into  a  war;  and  until  the 
Peace  of  Amiens,  in  1802,  hostilities  with  France  continued  in  all 
parts  of  the  world.  A  rebellion  in  Ireland  in  1798  led  to  the  union  of 
England  and  Ireland  in  1800.  War  was  renewed  in  1803  between 
England  and  France,  on  account  of  Napoleon's  ambition  to  gain  com- 
mand of  the  sea  arid  to  ruin  England's  commercial  and  colonial 
policy. 

In  1810  Wellesley  (now  known  as  the  Duke  of  Wellington)  beat 
back  the  masses  of  French  forces  under  Massena,  and  in  1812  he  won 
the  Battle  of  Salamanca.  In  that  year,  too.  Napoleon  wrecked  his 
finest  army  in  the  snows  of  Russia.  The  failure  of  the  Moscow  expe- 
dition was  followed  by  the  defeat  at  Leipsic  and  the  invasion  of 
France  by  the  allies.  In  1814  Napoleon  was  driven  into  exile  at  Elba. 
His  escape  and  his  seizure  of  the  throne,  in  1815,  began  with  good 
auspices  for  a  third  period  of  triumph ;  but  fortune  deserted  him.  All 
Europe  declared  against  him,  and  the  crushing  blow  was  given  by 
Wellington  at  Waterloo  in  1815. 

England  came  out  of  the  Napoleonic  wars  with  increased  prestige 
and  additional  possessions.  Nelson's  battle  of  the  Nile,  in  1798, 
marked  an  epoch  in  British  naval  history;  and  Trafalgar  (1805), 


328 


COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 


A   Scottish   Regiment   Passing   Through    London 

dearly  bought  with  the  hfe  of  the  great  admiral,  ended  once  for  all 
Napoleon's  plan  for  invading  England.  The  army  that  afterward 
subdued  the  Continent  had  been  concentrated  along  the  cliffs  of  Bou- 
logne and  the  descent  was  to  be  covered  by  a  great  fleet  under  Ville- 
neuve.  Nelson  gave  chase  to  Villeneuve,  and  caught  him  oiF  the  Cape 
of  Trafalgar. 

To  the  laurels  won  at  sea  by  Nelson  England  added  those  won  on 
land  by  the  Duke  of  Wellington  in  the  campaign  in  Spain  as  well  as 
at  Waterloo. 

The  Victorian  age,  under  the  ministry  of  Peel,  Russell,  Palmer- 
ston,  Disraeli,  Gladstone,  and  Salisbury,  saw  a  remarkable  develop- 
ment in  every  department  of  national  life.  The  United  Kingdom 
expanded  into  an  empire.  British  possessions  in  India  and  Africa 
were  extended;  Hongkong  was  acquired;  the  Australian  Colonies 
rose  to  importance;  a  rising  of  the  Zulus  in  1879  resulted  in  the  con- 
quest of  Zululand;  and  a  war  with  the  Boers  in  1899-1902  brought 
about  the  annexation  of  the  Transvaal  and  the  Orange  Free  State. 


329 


8S0  COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 

The  chief  events  in  the  reign  of  Edward  VII  (1901-'10)  were 
the  departure  from  traditional  foreign  policy  in  the  alliance  with 
Japan;  the  entente  between  Great  Britain  and  France;  numerous  ar- 
bitration policies;  the  formation  of  the  Union  of  South  Africa;  and 
the  king's  strong  peace  policy. 

In  1908,  on  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  Queen  Victoria's  proclama- 
tion transferring  the  government  of  India  from  the  East  India  Com- 
pany to  the  Crown,  a  message  from  King  Edward  VII  to  the  princes 
and  peoples  of  India  reviewed  the  progress  made  during  the  half 
century  and  promised  an  extension  of  representative  government.  In 
the  following  year  Lord  INIorley,  Secretary  of  State  for  India,  an- 
nounced a  scheme  for  native  representation  in  the  executive  councils 
of  the  viceroy  and  of  the  provinces  and  in  the  council  of  the  secretary 
of  state  at  Whitehall. 

The  Durbar  at  which  King  George  V  in  person  was  proclaimed 
Emperor  of  India  (December,  1911),  was  noticeable  for  the  an- 
nouncement of  the  removal  of  the  imperial  capital  from  Calcutta  to 
Delhi. 

The  division  of  England  into  tithings,  hundreds,  and  counties  is 
generally  attributed  to  King  Alfred.  English  country  names  occur 
in  historj^  before  the  extinction  of  the  Heptarchy.  Each  of  the  forty 
counties  of  England  and  twelve  of  Wales  is  still  divided  into  hun- 
dreds, although  the  name  ceases  to  have  its  exact  meaning  in  many 
cases.  Originally  the  division  signified  a  district  containing  a  hun- 
dred families.  To-day  some  "hundreds"  count  their  population  by 
hundreds  of  thousands,  while  others  have  not  gone  far  beyond  the 
number  that  gave  rise  to  the  name. 

One  of  the  most  ancient  and  celebrated  jurisdictions  of  the  coun- 
try is  the  Cinque  Ports.  These  were  self-governing  boroughs  from 
an  early  date.  The  records  in  Rye  mention  that  "the  five  Ports  were 
enfranchised  in  the  time  of  King  Edward  the  Confessor."  These  five 
were:  Hastings,  Romney,  Hythe,  Dover,  and  Sandwich.  To  these 
were  added  Rye  and  Winchelsea.  The  Cinque  Ports  possess  peculiar 
privileges  in  return  for  services  that  they  rendered  during  the  early 
Danish  invasions.  In  1300  Gen^ase  Alard  first  took  the  title  of  "ad- 
miral of  the  fleet  of  the  Cinque  Ports."  The  Lord  Warden  of  the 
Cinque  Ports,  with  ofiicial  residence  at  Walmer  Castle,  near  Dover, 


THE    BRITISH    EMPIRE 


331 


still  exercises  maritime  jurisdiction  and  has  certain  other  official  func- 
tions. 

The  small  area  of  the  British  Isles  has  necessitated  England's 
finding  for  her  people  homes  and  occupations  beyond  the  seas.  Her 
list  of  colonial  possessions  is  large.    The  Dominion  of  Canada  occu- 


'-^_                      ^^'    / 

// 

J^  '  Ik    jP^KtSt»^^^  ^^^^^^'^''■^  /'^f^*i^A 

^m 

0 

I  ' 

Field  Marshal  Earl  Roberts  Inspecting  Volunteers 


pies  the  northern  part  of  the  North  American  Continent,  with  the 
exception  of  Alaska  and  Labrador.  Newfoundland,  the  oldest  Eng- 
lish colony,  is  about  three  hundred  miles  long  and  three  hundred  miles 
broad;  Australia,  with  the  islands  of  Tasmania  and  New  Guinea,  con- 
tains 3,063,041  square  miles;  New  Zealand,  about  104,751  square 
miles ;  and  South  Africa,  473,100  square  miles.  The  Indian  Empire 
extends  over  a  territory  larger  than  the  Continent  of  Europe  without 
Russia,  an  area  of  1,773,168  square  miles.    Within  the  Indian  "sphere 


332  COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 

of  influence"  lie  the  self -governed  States  of  Afghanistan,  Nepal,  and 
Bhutan.  The  Imperial  British  Dominions  and  Protectorates  that  have 
not  yet  received  "responsible  government"  are:  Ascension,  the  Ba- 
hamas, the  Barbados,  Basutoland,  Bechuanaland,  Bermuda,  Borneo, 
Brunei,  British  Guiana,  British  Honduras,  British  East  and  Central 
Africa  (Somaliland,  East  Africa,  Uganda,  Zanzibar,  Nyassaland), 
British  West  Africa  (Gambia,  the  Gold  Coast,  Sierra  Leone,  and 
Nigeria),  the  British  West  Indies,  Cayman  Islands,  Ceylon,  Cyprus, 
East  Africa  Protectorate,  Falkland  Islands,  Fiji,  Gibraltar,  Hong- 
kong, Jamaica,  Leeward  Islands,  Malta,  ^lauritius,  Rhodesia,  St. 
Helena,  Sarawak,  Seychelles,  Straits  Settlements,  The  Federated 
Malay  States,  Johor,  Swaziland,  Trinidad,  Tobago,  Tristan  da  Cunlia, 
Turks  and  Caicos  Islands,  Weihaiwei,  and  the  Windward  Islands. 

The  British  Constitution  is  mainly  unwritten  and  customary.  It 
is  based  on  and  has  developed  from  certain  laws,  of  which  the  chief  are 
the  Magna  Charta  (1215),  which  secured  annual  court  sessions  and 
the  equal  administration  of  justice;  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act  (1769), 
which  established  liberty  of  person;  the  Act  of  Settlement  (1701), 
which  provided  for  the  Protestant  succession  to  the  throne ;  the  Act  of 
Union  with  Scotland  (1707)  and  the  Act  of  Union  with  Ireland 
(1800),  which  created  the  United  Kingdom;  and  the  Parliament  Act 
(1911),  which  enabled  the  Commons  to  pass  certain  acts  without  the 
adherence  of  the  other  chamber  (House  of  Lords). 

The  crown  (the  king  in  council)  "makes  peace  and  war,  issues 
charters,  increases  the  peerage,  is  the  fountain  of  honor,  of  office,  and 
of  justice."  Though  the  executive  government  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland  is  vested  nominallj-  in  the  crown,  the  monarchy,  being  consti- 
tutional and  limited,  is  practically  vested  in  a  cabinet  or  a  committee 
of  nineteen  ministers,  whose  existence  is  dependent  on  the  possession 
of  a  majority  in  the  House  of  Commons.  As  a  rule,  the  first  lord  of 
the  treasury  is  also  the  prime  minister  and  secretary  of  state.  The 
cabinet  is  therefore  an  inner  council  under  the  presidency  of  the  prime 
minister.  The  cabinet,  as  a  whole,  is  responsible  to  parliament  for  its 
joint  and  several  administrations.  The  ministry  includes  minor  posts, 
whose  occupants  have  no  seat  in  the  cabinet.  INIinisters  hold  their  of- 
fice during  the  sovereign's  pleasure.  The  supreme  legislative  power 
of  the  British  Empire  is  given  to  parliament,  which  is  summoned  by 


THE    BRITISH    EMPIRE 


A   Battalion  of  the   Grenadier  Guards 


the  writ  of  the  sovereign  out  of  chancery,  hy  advice  of  the  privy  coun- 
cil, at  least  thirty-five  days  before  its  assembling.  The  present  form 
of  parliament — divided  into  two  houses,  the  Lords  and  the  Commons 
— dates  from  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century.  The  House  of 
Lords  consists  of  peers,  who  hold  their  seats  by  ( 1 )  hereditary  right, 
(2)  by  creation  of  the  sovereign,  (3)  by  virtue  of  office — law  lords 
and  English  archbishops  and  bishops,  (4)  by  election  for  life — Irish 
peers,  ( 5 )  by  election  for  the  duration  of  parliament — Scottish  peers. 
The  full  House  in  1913  consisted  of  613  peers.  The  House  of  Com- 
mons consists  of  670  members,  elected  by  registered  male  electors  in 
county,  borough  and  university  constituencies.  All  clergymen  are 
disqualified,  as  are  also  English  and  Scottish  peers.  Non-representa- 
tive Irish  peers  are  eligible.  In  August,  1911,  provision  was  made 
for  the  payment  of  a  salary  of  four  hundred  pounds  a  year  to  mem- 
bers of  the  House  of  Commons. 

The  three  main  principles  underlying  the  administration  of  the 


334.  COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 

empire  are:  self-government,  self-support,  and  self-defense.  The 
third  is  of  modern  growth  largely  the  outcome  of  the  imperial  confer- 
ence. This  has  become  recognized  as  the  cabinet  of  the  empire.'  Its 
origin  is  traced  to  the  presence  in  London  in  1887  of  the  premiers  of 
the  various  self-governing  dominions  representing  their  countries  at 
the  jubilee  of  Queen  Victoria.  In  1907  the  name  of  the  subsequent 
gatherings  of  this  nature  was  changed  from  "Colonial  Conference" 
to  "Imperial  Conference."  The  conference  is  composed  of:  presi- 
dent, the  prime  minister  of  the  United  Kingdom ;  chairman,  the  secre- 
tary of  state  for  the  colonies;  members — the  prime  ministers  of  Can- 
ada, Australia,  New  Zealand,  Union  of  South  Africa,  and  Newfound- 
land, and  two  secretaries.  The  laws  in  England  and  Wales  are  ad- 
ministered by  judges  appointed  by  the  crown,  holding  office  for  life. 
They  cannot  be  removed,  save  on  petition  presented  by  both  Houses  of 
Parliament.  The  high  court  comprises  the  king's  bench,  chancery 
and  probate  divorce  and  admiralty  divisions.  Appeal  from  all  courts 
in  the  United  Kingdom  is  to  the  House  of  Lords. 

The  civil  courts  in  Ireland  are  similar  to  the  English  courts;  but 
the  Scots  civil  law  is  entirely  different.  This  is  administered  by  the 
court  of  session,  a  court  of  law  and  equity.  The  high  court  of 
justiciary  is  the  supreme  criminal  court  in  Scotland.  The  sheriff  in 
each  county  is  the  proper  criminal  judge  in  pett^'^  cases. 

The  Established  Church  of  England  is  the  Protestant  Episcopal. 
The  king  is  its  head  by  law  regulated  in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII,  and 
he  possesses  the  right  to  nominate  archbishops  and  bishops.  For 
twelve  centuries  England  has  been  divided  into  two  archbishoprics: 
Canterbury  and  York.  The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  "the  primate 
of  all  England,"  has  as  his  province  the  whole  of  England  except  the 
six  northern  counties  and  Cheshire.  These  are  the  province  of  the 
Archbishop  of  York,  "the  primate  of  England."  The  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  ranks  next  after  the  royal  princes,  and  is  the  first  peer  of 
England.  He  has  the  right  of  placing  the  crown  on  the  sovereign's 
head  at  the  coronation.  There  are  thirty-eight  bishops,  under  whom 
are  thirty-two  deans  and  a  hundred  archdeacons.  In  1911  the  number 
of  civil  parishes  was  14,614.  The  Roman  Catholics  in  England  and 
Wales  are  estimated  at  1,800,000,  with  three  archbishops  (one  of 
whom  is  a  cardinal)   and  thirteen  bishops.     Other  denominations — 


THE    BRITISH   EMPIRE 


335 


English  Territorials,  Who  Correspond  to  the  American  "National  Guard" 


Baptists,  Presbyterians,  Wesleyan  Methodists,  etc. — number  about 
2,428,933.  The  Jews  represent  245,000,  with  two  hundred  syna- 
gogues. The  Salvation  Army  has  about  76,400  members,  and  9,340 
corps  and  outposts. 

The  Church  of  Scotland  (established  in  1560  and  confirmed  in 
1688)  is  Presbyterian.  The  clergy  are  all  equal.  Its  supreme  court 
is  a  general  assembly.  The  number  of  churches,  chapels,  etc.,  is  1,693. 
The  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  Scotland  numbers  about  550,000,  pre- 
sided over  by  two  archbishops.  The  Roman  Catholics  in  Ireland 
number  3,242,670,  against  576,611  Episcopalians,  440,525  Presby- 
terians, 62,382  Methodists,  and  68,031  others.  Four  archbishops — of 
Armagh,  Cashel,  Dublin,  and  Tuam — with  twenty-three  bishops,  rule 
the  Church. 

In  England  the  highest  education  is  given  in  the  ancient  universi- 
ties of  Oxford  and  Cambridge.  Oxford  has  twenty-two  colleges  and' 
three  private  halls;  Cambridge,  seventeen  colleges  and  one  private 
hall.  The  University  of  Durham,  with  its  college  of  medicine,  ranks 
high;  the  College  of  Science  at  Newcastle,  the  University  of  London 
(with  twenty- four  colleges),  and  the  universities  of  Victoria  (Man- 
chester), Birmingham,  Liverpool,  Leeds,  Sheffield,  and  Bristol  and 


336 


COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 


Battle-cruiser  "Inflexible"  Saluting 

the  university  colleges  at  Exeter,  Nottingham,  Reading,  and  South- 
ampton, are  most  efficient.  There  are  special  agricultural  colleges  at 
Carlisle,  Cirencester,  Glasgow,  Newport,  Kingston-on-Soar,  Wye, 
Uckfield,  and  Ripley.  There  are  four  universities  in  Scotland:  St. 
Andrew's,  founded  in  1411;  Glasgow,  1450;  Aberdeen,  1494;  and 
Edinburgh,  1582.  The  Carnegie  Trust  (1901)  devotes  half  its  in- 
come of  £100,000  to  the  equipment  and  expansion  of  Scottish  uni- 
versities, and  half  to  assisting  students.  Ireland  has  its  University  of 
Dublin,  founded  in  1591 ;  the  National  University  of  Ireland  (1909) ; 
and  the  Queen's  University  of  Belfast. 

The  general  defense  of  the  empire  is  undertaken  by  the  Imperial 
Government,  aided  by  the  Government  of  India,  and  the  self-govern- 
ing Dominions  of  Canada,  Australia,  New  Zealand,  and  South  Africa. 
The  first  line  of  defense  is  the  royal  navy ;  the  second  line  of  defense 
is  the  regular  and  auxiliary  troops  of  the  British  navy.  Questions 
regarding  general  strategy  are  considered  and  determined  by  the  de- 
fense committee,  which  secures  coordination  between  the  sea  and  land 
forces  of  the  empire. 

The  defense  committee  consists  of  the  prime  minister  of  the 
United  Kingdom,  secretary  of  state  for  war,  first  lord  of  the  admir- 
alty, secretaries  of  state  for  foreign  affairs,  colonies  and  India,  chan- 
cellor of  the  exchequer,  chief  of  the  imperial  general  staff,  first  sea- 


THE    BRITISH    EMPIRE 


537 


lord  of  the  admiralty,  director  of  military  operations,  and  director  of 
naval  intelligence.  Naval  and  military  officers  of  experience  are  also 
invited  to  the  conferences. 

The  royal  navy  is  recruited  by  voluntary  enlistment,  and  is  ad- 
ministered by  the  commissioners  for  executing  the  office  of  the  lord 
high  admiral  of  the  United  Kingdom  ("lords  of  the  admiralty")  con- 


One   of  Canada's   Crack   Regiments — "The   Queen's  Own    Rifles" 


trolled  by  the  king-emperor  in  Parliament.  The  admiralty  office  is  in 
the  historic  district  of  Whitehall,  London.  The  officers  and  men  num- 
ber 115,052;  the  marines,  18,235;  and  the  coast-guard,  3,130.  For 
1914-'15  an  increase  of  5,000  was  provided  for.  On  January  1,  1913, 
the  royal  naval  reserve  numbered  20,169;  the  royal  fleet  reserve, 
25,794 ;  and  the  royal  naval  volunteers,  4,114.  The  total  reserves  num- 
bered 50,077.  The  British  fleet  consists  of  about  16  super-dread- 
noughts; 15  dreadnoughts;  40  pre-dreadnought  battleships;  50  cruis- 
ers; 76  light  cruisers;  18  torpedo  gunboats;  23  sloops,  gunboats,  etc.; 


338 


COUNTRIES   INVOLVED 


Group  of  Sikhs,   One  of  England's   Finest   Indian   Corps 


248  destroyers;  100  torpedo  boats;  and  85  submarines.  Certain  fast 
Cunarders  are  subsidized  for  use  in  case  of  war.  In  1912  the  naval 
wing  of  the  royal  flying  corps  was  founded.  The  number  of  naval 
aeroplanes  is  about  fifty,  including  school  machines.  There  are  naval 
air  stations  at  the  Isle  of  Grain,  Calshott,  Felixstowe,  Yarmouth, 
Cromarty,  and  the  Firth  of  Forth.  Farnborough  has  an  air-ship  sta- 
tion, and  there  is  a  special  air  department  at  the  admiralty. 

The  land  forces  of  the  United  Kingdom  consist  of  the  regular 
army  and  the  territorial  army.  The  British  army  is  recruited  by 
voluntary  enlistment,  and  is  administered  by  an  army  council  under 
the  authority  of  the  king-emperor  in  parliament.  The  training  and 
efficiency  of  the  army  are  under  the  inspector-general  of  the  home 
forces,  and  a  similar  office  has  been  organized  recently  for  the  oversea 
forces. 

The  war  office  is  in  Whitehall,  London.  The  secretary  of  state  for 
war  is  at  the  head,  with  the  chief  of  the  imperial  general  staff,  adju- 
tant-general to  the  forces,  quartermaster-general  to  the  forces,  and 
master-general  of  the  ordnance  as  first,  second,  third,  and  fourth  IVIili- 
tary  Members.    The  service  is  for  twelve  years,  with  permission  to 


THE    BRITISH    EMPIRE  339 

extend  it  to  twenty-one  years.  The  grand  total  of  the  British  army 
is  711,575  men,  including  the  troops  serving  in  India  (78,476). 

The  tropical  areas  of  the  British  Empire  include  southern  India, 
west  and  central  Africa,  parts  of  the  West  Indies,  British  Guiana 
and  Honduras,  northern  Australia,  Borneo,  and  the  various  settle- 
ments in  the  Malay  Peninsula. 

The  estimated  white  population  in  1911 — mainly  Anglo-Saxon, 
but  including  French,  Dutch,  Spanish,  and  a  few  Jews — is  60,000,000. 
The  remaining  370,000,000  include:  315,000,000  of  the  natives  of 
India  and  Ceylon,  40,000,000  of  the  black  races,  6,000,000  Arabs, 
6,000,000  Malays,  1,000,000  Chinese,  1,000,000  Polynesians,  and  100,- 
000  Red  Indians  in  Canada. 

The  Indian  Empire  is  governed  by  the  king  and  emperor,  acting 
on  the  advice  of  the  secretary  of  state  for  India,  who  is  assisted  by  a 
council  appointed  by  that  secretary.  In  all  matters  he  can  impose  his 
orders  on  the  Government  of  India.  Indian  Government  business  in 
England  is  transacted  at  the  Indian  office,  Whitehall.  The  king- 
emperor  appoints  the  viceroy  and  governor-general  of  India,  in  whom 
the  supreme  authority  is  vested,  subject  to  the  control  of  the  secretary 
of  state  in  England.  The  viceroy's  council  consists  of  seven  members. 
Since  March,  1909,  one  of  these  has  been  a  native  of  India.  British 
India  is  divided  into  provinces,  with  varying  degrees  of  independence. 
A  governor  from  England,  appointed  by  the  king-emperor,  adminis- 
ters the  presidencies  of  Madras^  Bengal,  and  Bombay.  Each  has  an 
executive  and  legislative  council.  The  United  Provinces  of  Agra 
and  Oudh,  the  Punjab,  Burma,  and  Bihar  and  Orissa  are  adminis- 
tered by  lieutenant-governors  appointed  by  the  governor-general, 
with  the  approval  of  the  crown.  The  Central  Provinces  and  Berar 
and  Assam  are  administered  by  chief  commissioners.  In  the  250  dis- 
tricts in  British  territory  the  highest  executive  official  is  a  collector- 
magistrate. 

On  August  4,  1914,  following  the  action  of  the  Emperor  of 
Russia  in  ordering  (August  1)  partial  mobilization  of  his  troops,  in 
an  intention  to  support  Servia  against  Austria,  and  the  mobilizing 
of  the  French  and  the  German  troops  on  the  evening  of  the  same 
day,  Great  Britain  sent  an  ultimatum  to  Berlin,  demanding  unquali- 


340 


COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 


fied  observance  of  the  neutrality  of  Belgium,  which  had  refused  free 
passage  to  German  troops  through  her  domain.  Germany  rejected 
Great  Britain's  ultimatum  and  began  an  attack  on  Liege;  and  on 
the  following  day  (August  5)   Great  Britain  declared  war  on  Ger- 


English  Hospital  Sergeant  and  Wounded  Soldiers 


many,  which  action  was  followed  on  the  13th  by  a  declaration  of  war 
on  Austria  also.  On  August  17  the  first  British  troops  landed  in 
France. 

They  were  immediately  hurried  to  the  front,  and  stubbornly  held 
the  left  of  the  alhed  line  under  a  series  of  ferocious  attacks  launched 
against  them  by  the  Germans  in  the  now  famous  retreat  from  the 
Belgian  frontier  to  within  a  few  miles  of  Paris. 


S4il 


NICHOLAS     (NICOLA!)     II 

Emperor  and  Autocrat  of  all  the  Russias.      Born  in    St.   Petersburg,  May  18,  1868.     Son   of  the 

Emperor  Alexander  III   and  of  Princess  Dagmar   (Mary   Feodorovna)    of    Denmark. 

Succeeded,  on  the  Death  of  His  Father,  November  1,  1894.      Married, 

November  26,  1894,  Alexandra  Alix  (Alexandra  Feodorovna), 

Princess  of   Hesse 

342 


RUSSIA 


343 


Russia — To  get  a  mental  picture  of  the  immensity  of  the  Russian 
Empire  look  at  a  map  that  covers  Asia  and  Europe.  Thus  regarded, 
the  western  kingdoms  of  Europe  seem  suddenly  to  have  shrunk. 
France,  Italy,  the  British  Isles,  the  German  Empire  even — all  these, 
it  appears,  would  rest  easily  in  the  lap  of  Siberia  alone. 

Or,  if  you  prefer  to  think  in  figures,  Russia  means  one  seventh  of 
all  the  dry  land  on  the  globe.  Its  extreme  length  from  west  to  east  is 
6,000  miles — one  fourth  of  the  earth's  circumference.    When  a  peas- 


A   Russian    Regiment  Passing   In   Review  Before  the  Czar  and   His  Staff 


ant,  taking  at  St.  Petersburg  a  train  of  the  Trans-Siberian  Railway, 
arrives  at  Irkutsk,  he  has  already  traveled  twelve  hundred  miles  far- 
ther than  if  he  had  made  the  trip  from  New  York  to  San  Francisco ; 
and  he  has  paid  in  fare  only  the  equivalent  of  fifteen  dollars.  From 
North  to  South  Russia,  where  it  is  widest,  measures  2,300  miles.  It  is 
bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Arctic  Ocean ;  on  the  east  by  the  seas  of 
the  Pacific;  on  the  south  by  China,  Afghanistan,  Persia,  and  Turkey 
in  Asia;  on  the  west  by  the  Black  Sea,  Rumania,  Austria,  Germany, 
the  Baltic,  and  the  Scandinavian  Peninsula.  Its  area,  including  the 
inland  lakes,  together  with  Khiva  and  Bokhara,  is  8,770,703  square 
miles. 


Vice-Admiral  Grigorovich,  Minister  of 
the  Navy 


M.   Goremykin,   President  of  tiie 
Councii  of  Ministers 


DISTINGUISHED     RUSSIAN     OFFICIALS 
344 


RUSSIA  345 

Russian  expansion  has  been  neither  colonial  nor  maritime,  but 
purely  continental.  The  empire  has  grown  from  within  by  a  series  of 
accretions  in  which  one  contiguous  country  after  another  has  been  an- 
nexed and  absorbed.  It  has  been  a  great  land  monster,  whose  appetite 
grows  with  what  it  feeds  on.  Yet,  geographically,  its  aggressions 
have  but  followed  the  natural  "lay  of  the  land."  In  other  words,  it  is 
a  great,  unbroken  plain ;  for  even  the  Ural  Mountains,  between  Euro- 
pean and  Asiatic  Russia,  do  not  contribute  a  continuous  or  a  formid- 
able barrier.  In  European  Russia,  the  only  breaks  are  the  small  table- 
lands. Excepting  the  Urals  and  an  isolated  chain  in  the  Crimea,  the 
mountains  are  of  no  importance.  In  the  southern  region  stretch  the 
barren  steppes;  vast  forests  and  many  lakes  are  in  the  north;  in  the 
heart  of  the  country,  and  extending  to  the  west,  are  the  great  wheat 
lands.  Of  the  rivers,  the  Neva  and  the  Vistula  flow  into  the  Baltic; 
the  Dniester,  the  Dnieper,  and  the  Don  into  the  Black  Sea;  and  the 
Ural  and  the  Volga  into  the  Caspian. 

Russia  has  a  polar  region,  a  cold  region,  a  temperate  region,  and  a 
warm  region ;  so  particulars  of  its  climate  cannot  well  be  set  forth  in 
brief.  At  St.  Petersburg  (now  called  Petrograd)  the  mean  annual 
temperature  is  above  40°.  In  "cold"  Russia,  the  thermometer  sinks  to 
30°  below  zero  and  rises  to  80°  above.  Midsummer  heat  in  the  warm 
region  means  a  normal  temperature  of  100°,  yet  the  Sea  of  Azov 
freezes  early  in  November,  and  does  not  thaw  till  April.  On  the 
whole,  it  is  a  healthful  country,  though  it  suffers  from  drouths  in  the 
south  and  an  excess  of  snow  and  rain  in  the  far  north.  Nearly  all  the 
waters  maintain  fisheries.  Russian  sables  are  among  the  most  luxur- 
ious furs  known  to  civilization.  Bears,  wolves,  wild  hogs,  elk,  bison, 
and  lynx  abound. 

Russia,  until  lately,  got  all  its  living  from  the  land.  It  is  a  great 
agricultural  country,  producing  cotton  and  rice  in  northern  latitudes 
commonly  unfavorable  to  such  culture.  The  profitable  farming  lands 
lie  mostly  between  the  Baltic  and  the  Black  Sea.  In  1912  the  whole 
area  under  cultivation  was  361,000,000  acres.  Of  this,  about  78,000,- 
000  acres  were  sown  in  wheat,  yielding  about  21,500,000  tons;  72,000,- 
000  acres  in  rye,  yielding  nearly  26,000,000  tons ;  together  with  barley, 
oats,  hemp,  maize,  flax,  tobacco,  and  37,000,000  tons  of  potatoes. 
Herds  and  flocks  embrace  nearly  49,000,000  head  of  cattle,  74,000,000 


346 


COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 


sheep  and  goats,  13,500,000  pigs,  and  more  than  33,000,000  horses. 
Russia  ranks  third  among  the  sea-food  producing  countries  of  the 
globe.  It  exports  caviar,  and  imports  codfish  and  herrings  to  feed  a 
population  that  cannot  live  on  a  year's  catch  of  fish  approximating 
1,500,000,000  pounds. 

In  the  mountains  are  precious  metals,  copper,  platinum,  high-grade 


i 

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if 

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BB^ 

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I^LtoiimM^ 

h  ■  ^--^'t  %  ^  ^  i^^ 

im^mm 

II^Bmi!^ 

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^f    J%^^fg 

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|i' 

Some  of  Russia's  World-famous  Cossacks 


iron,  marble,  rock  salt,  and  lead.  Russia  leads  the  world  in  the  pro- 
duction of  petroleum,  the  annual  output  approximating  515,500,000 
poods — a  pood  being  36  pounds.  From  immeasurable  coal-beds,  near 
the  Dnieper  and  elsewhere,  was  taken,  in  1910,  coal  weighing  1,600,- 
000  poods.  In  the  same  year  Avas  produced  3,606  poods  of  pure  gold. 
In  1906  the  output  of  steel  and  rails  reached  2,000,000  tons. 

Russia's  total  imports  in  1912  were  valued  at  more  than  $600,000,- 
000 ;  the  exports  at  more  than  $800,000,000.  Her  commercial  marine 
in  1913  included  716  steamers  (790,000  tons)  and  500  sailing-vessels 
^184,000  tons). 


RUSSIA  347 

The  railways  aggregated  about  50,000  miles  in  length — a  large 
portion  being  under  government  control.  In  1912  they  carried  more 
than  235,000,000  passengers,  and  more  than  229,000,000  tons  of 
freight — yielding  a  gross  revenue  of  about  $600,000,000.  The  build- 
ing of  the  Trans-Siberian  Railway  has  cut  in  half  the  time  required 
to  reach  the  Pacific  via  the  Suez  Canal,  and  has  spread  the  Russian 
influence  along  the  borders  of  China. 

The  whole  empire's  population  in  1912  was  estimated  at  173,360,- 
000.  These  figures  included  122,550,000  in  European  Russia  proper, 
exclusive  of  Poland  and  Finland.  Siberia's  population  was  9,600,000, 
and  that  of  Central  Asia  nearly  11,000,000.  The  Russian  language 
is  everywhere  dominant,  and  the  Russ  represents  two  thirds  of  the 
whole  population.  The  Poles  represent  about  6  per  cent.;  the  Jews 
about  4  per  cent.;  Finns,  4.5  per  cent.;  Lithuanians,  2.4  per  cent.; 
Turco-Tartars,  10.6  per  cent.  It  is  estimated  that  about  80  per  cent, 
of  the  inhabitants  dwell  on  about  25  per  cent,  of  the  surface.  Despite 
famine,  wars,  poverty,  and  cruel  oppression,  Russia  grows  and  grows. 
The  natural  annual  increase  is  placed  at  more  than  1,700,000.  The 
average  proportion  of  the  sexes  is  99.8  women  to  100  men;  but  in  Fin- 
Und  and  the  Russian  provinces  the  women  outnumber  the  men  by 
more  than  two  per  cent. 

Russia's  capital,  St.  Petersburg  (now  Petrograd),  has  a  popula- 
tion of  a  little  more  than  2,000,000.  The  city  is  built  on  the  marsh- 
land of  the  Neva  River,  20  miles  east  of  its  port,  Cronstadt.  The 
average  winter  temperature  is  18°.  It  was  founded  by  Peter  the 
Great  in  1703,  and  Catherine  II  made  it  one  of  the  most  brilliant 
capitals  in  Europe.  When  the  emperor  occupies  his  wonderful  Win- 
ter Palace,  it  houses  6,000  persons.  This  building  is  one  of  the 
world's  largest  palaces,  and  is  lavishly  decorated  and  furnished. 
Moscow's  population  is  1,174,000.  Nijni  Novgorod,  on  the  Trans- 
Siberian  Railway,  has  a  population  of  only  90,000,  but  its  annual  fair 
is  the  largest  in  the  world. 

Russia  nominally  ceased  to  be  an  absolute  monarchy  in  1905,  with 
the  establishment  of  the  Duma ;  but  the  emperor  has  not  dropped  his 
title  of  Autocrat,  although  the  Duma  has  registered  a  protest,  and  in 
him  are  still  lodged,  in  a  great  measure,  the  executive,  judicial,  and 
legislative  functions  of  the  government.    The  fourth  Duma  has  been 


348  COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 


Russian    Infantry 

sitting  since  November,  1912.  By  a  change  made  in  the  electoral  law 
in  June,  1907,  the  members  of  the  Duma,  representing  the  provinces 
and  the  greater  cities,  are  chosen  (for  five  years)  by  electoral  bodies 
created  by  the  voters.  The  council  of  the  empire,  established  in  1810, 
became  in  1906  a  legislative  council,  made  up  equally  of  elected  mem- 
bers and  the  emperor's  nominees,  and  annually  convoked  and  pro- 
rogued by  imperial  decree  (ukase) .  No  act  of  legislation  is  submitted 
for  the  emperor's  approval  unless  it  has  been  passed  by  both  bodies. 
Equal  powers  of  initiative  and  legislation  are  vested  in  the  Council  and 
the  Duma,  but  neither  body  is  empowered  to  receive  petitions  or  depu- 
tations. 

Four  additional  councils,  controlled  by  the  emperor's  private  cab- 
inet, conduct  the  administration.  All  the  legal  tribunals  are  con- 
trolled by  the  high  court  of  justice,  known  as  the  Ruling  Senate.  This 
was  established  by  Peter  I  in  1711.  There  are  six  sections,  repre- 
senting the  various  provinces,  presided  over  collectively  by  the  min- 
ister of  justice.  The  Holy  Synod — also  established  by  Peter  I — 
superintends  the  empire's  religious  affairs.  It  is  composed  of  the 
metropolitans  of  St.  Petersburg,  Moscow,  and  Kiev,  the  archbishops 
of  Georgia  and  Poland,  and  several  bishops  sitting  in  turn.  Its  deci- 
sions are  of  no  effect  unless  approved  by  the  emperor.  A  third  gov- 
ernment board,  reorganized  in  the  autumn  of  1905,  is  the  committee 
of  ministers,  while  the  Council  of  Ministers  constitutes  a  fourth  board 
composed  of  all  the  ministers  and  the  general  directors  of  important 
administrations. 

The  established  religion  is  the  Russo-Greek  Church,  officially  called 
the  Greek  "Orthodox  faith,"  of  which  the  emperor  is  the  head.     He 


RUSSIA 


349 


Passing   in    Review 


does  not  presume  to  decide  questions  of  theology  or  dogma,  but  he 
makes  appointments  and  exercises  certain  powers  of  transfer  and 
dismissal.  Members  of  the  Orthodox  faith  represent  about  70  per 
cent,  of  all;  Mussulmans,  10  per  cent.;  Roman  Catholics,  9  per  cent.; 
Protestants,  5  per  cent. ;  Jews,  4  per  cent. 

Advanced  education  has  been  sternly  repressed  in  Russia,  even  in 
the  time  of  the  present  emperor.  Professors  have  been  persecuted  and 
suspended  for  teaching  fundamental  scientific  laws,  standard  text- 
books have  been  banned,  and  other  repressive  measures  have  been  put 
in  force.  Statistically  speaking,  European  Russia  in  1913  had  90,418 
elementary  schools — high,  middle,  and  primary — with  a  total  attend- 
ance of  5,794,922.  Ten  per  cent,  of  the  total  population  have  received 
no  instruction  whatever,  and  it  is  said  that  many  schools  in  the  remote 
districts  exist  only  on  paper.  The  primary  instruction  in  these  dis- 
tricts is  very  backward.  University  students  in  St.  Petersburg  num- 
ber 8,224;  in  Moscow,  9,242;  in  Kiev,  4,931.  On  January  1,  1912, 
the  whole  number  in  the  empire  was  36,147.  There  are  also  secondary 
institutions,  in  number  somewhat  insignificant  con^pared  with  the  area 
and  population.  The  special  schools  embrace:  theological,  470,  with 
more  than  77,000  pupils;  pedagogical,  323,  with  more  than  21,000 
pupils;  medical,  72,  with  9,112  pupils;  technical,  627,  with  40,000  pu- 
pils; commercial  and  industrial,  178,  with  about  38,000  pupils;  fine 
arts,  75,  with  10,500  pupils. 

Russia's  national  debt  has  not  varied  much  since  1902;  in  1913  it 
was  8,845,717,768  roubles. 

The  Russian  Empire  had  its  real  beginning  in  the  year  862,  when 
the  northern  Slavs,  tired  of  their  civil  wars,  invited  Rurik,  the  Norse- 


350  COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 

man,  to  govern  them.  So  Rurik  came  to  Novgorod;  but  some  of  his 
Varangian  brethren  pushed  on  south  to  the  Dnieper  and  set  up  their 
government  at  Kiev.  Then  Rurik's  successors  took  possession  of 
Kiev  also,  embracing  Christianity  in  the  reign  of  the  Queen  Regent 
Olga  (950).  Olga's  son,  SviatoslafF,  divided  the  empire  among  his 
three  sons,  and  the  dissensions  that  arose  continued  until  the  reign  of 
Vladimir  (980-1015),  who  married  a  sister  of  the  Byzantine  emper- 
ors. Under  his  rule  the  Russian  people  became  Greek  Christians, 
passing  under  the  influence  of  the  Byzantine  civilization ;  and  by  this 
time  the  Norsemen — as  often  happens  with  conquerors  or  invaders — 
had  lost  their  identity  as  Scandinavians  and  taken  on  the  character  of 
their  subjects,  the  Slavs.  The  new  empire  now  stretched  eastward  to 
the  Volga,  and  embraced  the  country  from  the  northern  lakes  to  the 
Dnieper;  but  again  it  was  divided  among  too  many  heirs,  and  again 
came  quarrels  that  disrupted  the  kingdom.  It  became  a  group  of 
principalities,  and  some  of  these  States  made  good  progress  under 
their  princes — notably  Novgorod,  which  acquired  wealth  and  even  a 
liberal  form  of  government.  Nevertheless,  the  empire  had  lost  its 
strength  and  solidity,  and  it  was  as  a  leaf  in  the  storm  of  the  Mongol 
invasion. 

This  set  in  early  in  the  thirteenth  century,  when  the  Tartars  (Mon- 
gols, or  Moguls),  under  the  terrible  Genghiz  Khan,  came  like  an  ant- 
swarm  from  Asia,  sweeping  through  the  greater  part  of  both  Asia 
and  EfUrope,  and  threatening  to  submerge  Mahometan  and  Christian 
alike.  For  two  centuries  Russia  was  trodden  under  the  heel  of  the 
Tartars,  and  was  quite  cut  off  from  contact  with  western  Europe. 
Kiev  was  altogether  destroj^ed,  and  the  principality  of  Vladimir  in  the 
north  became  tributary.  In  the  last  quarter  of  the  thirteenth  century 
came  a  shifting  of  the  seat  of  power  from  Novgorod  to  oSIoscow.  In 
1328  it  became  the  capital.  Ivan  I,  strongest  of  the  subject  princes, 
reigned  there,  and,  gaining  favor  with  the  INIongol  khans,  was  per- 
mitted to  retain  the  succession  in  his  own  line.  It  was  Ivan  who  built 
The  Kremlin — most  famous  of  Russia's  citadels,  including  within  its 
walls  the  imperial  palace,  the  arsenal,  churches,  and  monasteries. 

The  Mongols  made  a  mistake  in  giving  so  much  power  to  Ivan. 
From  his  loins  sprang  a  line  of  kings,  and  among  the  first  of  these 
was  Dmitri,  who  organized  a  valiant  but  vain  rebellion.    Better  for- 


RUSSIA 


351 


tune  attended  the  efforts  of  Ivan  III  the  Great  (1462-1505),  who 
subdued  Novgorod  and  overthrew  the  Khan  of  the  Golden  Horde 
(1480).  His  conquest  quadrupled  the  Russian  domain;  but  it  re- 
mained for  his  grandson,  Ivan  IV,  to  complete  the  subjection  of  the 
Moguls.  This  ruler — Ivan  the  Terrible,  as  he  has  come  to  be  called — 
carried  the  war  to  the  Caucasus,  and  overcame  the  Khan  of  Kazan. 


The  Czar  and   President  Poincar6  at  Peterhof 


Thus  the  only  lasting  dynasty  established  by  the  Moguls  in  their 
attempted  conquest  of  all  Europe  came  to  an  end. 

Russia  now  began  anew.  On  the  south,  Ivan,  who  called  himself 
czar,  waged  war  against  the  Tartars  of  the  Crimea.  On  the  Baltic  he 
sought  to  obtain  a  seaport  for  Russia,  but  Poland  and  Sweden  blocked 
his  way.  When  Novgorod  joined  hands  with  Poland  in  resisting  him, 
he  stormed  the  city  and  massacred  its  people.  Everywhere  he  over- 
came opposition  with  cruelty;  yet  he  could  not  prevail  against  the 
Swedes  and  their  allies,  and  he  was  obliged  to  give  up  Livonia.  Ivan 
established  commercial  intercourse  with  England,   by  way  of  the 


352  COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 

White  Sea,  introduced  the  printing-press,  encouraged  the  coming  of 
western  artists  and  mechanics,  and  sought  the  friendship  of  Queen 
Ehzabeth.  For  England  was  now  in  the  spacious  EHzabethan  age, 
while  Russia  was  just  awakening  from  the  long  nightmare  of  Turan- 
ian rule. 

In  Ivan's  reign  we  first  hear  of  the  Cossacks.  These  robber  bands 
of  the  Dnieper  and  the  Don  were  pressed  into  service  by  Ivan,  and 
readily  made  war. for  Russia  against  the  weaker  nomads  of  the  sur- 
rounding regions.  Ivan  sent  one  of  the  Cossack  chiefs,  with  a  hand- 
ful of  followers,  across  the  Ural  Mountains,  and  in  doing  so  began 
the  conquest  of  Siberia.  Russia  had  now  entered  upon  her  march  to 
the  Pacific.  The  Tartars  still  opposed  her  progress  to  the  Euxine, 
and  her  only  ports  were  on  the  White  Sea  and  the  Caspian.  From  the 
port  of  Archangel,  her  outpost  on  the  frozen  Arctic,  she  began  to  ply 
a  trade  with  the  nations  to  the  west.  This  port  was  founded  by 
Feodor,  son  of  Ivan,  and  it  remained  Russia's  chief  haven  till  the 
coming  of  Peter  the  Great. 

The  royal  line  that  began  with  Rurik,  the  Norseman,  came  to  an 
end  in  1589.  The  Poles  brought  forward  a  pretender  to  the  throne, 
and  a  condition  approaching  anarchy  ensued.  Then,  in  1613,  a  repre- 
sentative assembly  of  Russians  elected  the  youthful  jNIichael  Roman- 
off (1613- '45)  to  rule  over  them;  and  from  him  springs  the  present 
royal  family. 

With  the  coming  of  Peter  the  Great  (1682-1725) ,  Russian  civihza- 
tion  made  its  first  distinct  progress.  In  1696  he  took  AzofF  from  the 
Turks,  and  Russia  acquired  her  coveted  port  on  the  Black  Sea.  He 
made  war  against  Charles  XII,  and  acquired  Sweden's  possessions 
east  of  the  Baltic.  On  the  Caspian  Sea  he  extended  his  dominions  at 
the  expense  of  Persia.  St.  Petersburg  was  made  the  capital,  in  place 
of  Moscow.  Peter  was  determined  to  make  Russia  a  great  Power, 
and  he  assumed  the  title  of  Emperor  of  All  the  Russias,  which  meant 
that  Poland  should  not  retain  her  hold  upon  her  Russian  provinces. 
Peter  was  half  barbarian,  half  modern.  He  performed  manual  labor 
in  the  navy  yards.  He  was  a  traveler  and  a  linguist,  and,  like  Ivan, 
he  opened  the  door  to  foreign  arts  and  inventions.  Russia  was  an 
inferior  country  when  Peter  became  its  ruler,  and  when  his  reign  was 
over  it  had  become  a  Power. 


RUSSIA 

Peter's  policy  was  continued  by  Catherine,  his  widow,  who  reigned 
for  only  two  years.  From  1725  until  1796  Russia's  rulers  were  chiefly 
women:  Anna,  Elizabeth,  and  Catherine  II.  In  the  reign  of  Cath- 
erine II  (1762-'96),  the  Crimea  was  conquered,  the  Tartars  were 
driven  out,  and  Russia  once  more  had  access  to  the  Black  Sea.  A 
more  momentous  event  of  her  reign  was  the  spoliation  of  Poland, 
whereby  Russia  acquired  180,000  square  miles  of  territory,  with  6,000,- 
000  inhabitants.     This  brought  her  into  close  contact  with  western 


A  Group  of  Russian  Artillery  Officers 


Europe,  and  made  her  a  force  in  European  affairs.  In  Catherine's 
reign,  also,  the  Turks  were  forced  back  to  the  Dniester,  and  Russia 
began  her  policy  of  interference  in  Turkey's  internal  affairs. 

The  brief  reign  of  the  autocratic  Paul  I  (1796-1801) ,  ending  with 
his  assassination,  was  succeeded  by  that  of  Alexander  I  (1801-'25). 
Russia's  remarkable  rise  in  the  nineteenth  century  now  began  in  ear- 
nest, and  its  events  are  closely  linked  with  those  of  our  own  time. 
Alexander  was  first  at  peace  and  then  at  war  with  Napoleon.  When 
Austria  and  Prussia  had  been  conquered,  he  joined  issues  with  Na- 
poleon once  more,  and  received  some  territory  in  Lithuania,  at  Prus- 
sia's expense.    Russia  also  deprived  Sweden  of  Finland,  pushed  her 


354  COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 

way  to  the  Danube  against  the  Turks,  and  annexed  certain  Persian 
territory  between  the  Black  and  Caspian  seas.  After  ^N^apoleon's 
fatal  invasion  of  Russia,  in  1812,  Alexander  took  the  leading  part  in 
his  overthrow;  with  INIetternich,  in  1815,  he  was  largely  instru- 
mental in  remaking  the  map  of  Europe  and  creating  the  Kingdom 
of  Poland  under  the  Russian  scepter.  It  was  he  who  inspired  the 
Holy  Alliance. 

Meanwhile  Russia's  internal  affairs  did  not  prosper.  In  the  be- 
ginning of  his  reign  the  emperor  displayed  liberal  ideas.  Under 
the  inspiration  of  the  tutor  of  his  youth.  La  Herpe,  new  universities 
:  were  established,'  scholarship  was  encouraged,  and  numerous  im- 
portant reforms  were  planned.  But  later  Alexander  fell  under  the 
influence  of  JSletternich's  reactionary  viewsj  and  came  to  believe  that 
political  freedom  and  the  education  of  the  masses  were  opposed  to  the 
laws  of  God.  Russia  immediatelj^  reverted  to  conditions  approaching 
those  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Science  was  suppressed,  dissection  of  the 
dead  was  banned,  and  German  universities  were  forbidden  to  Russian 
students.      »  •' - 

Nicholas  I  (1825-''55)  likewise  did  his  best  to  crush  liberalism. 
He  was  in  all  respects  despotic.  Under  his  rule,  Poland  was  humbled 
in  the  dust  and  became  virtually  a  Russian  province.  A  strict  cen- 
sorship of  books  was  put  into  effect,  and  the  secret  department  of 
police  became  odious  to  all  citizens  that  entertained  the  most  innocent 
ideas  of  libert3^  Russia's  oflicial  corruption  and  incompetence  were 
exposed  in  the  Crimean  war ;  but  Nicholas  did  not  live  to  profit  by  his 
mistakes. 

Alexander  II  (1855-'81),  touched  by  the  deplorable  condition  of 
the  Serfs,  and  perceiving,  too,  that  repressive  measures  might  lead 
to  further  uprisings,  resolved  to  set  them  free.  This  was  done  in  1861, 
when  40,000,000  peasants  were,  in  a  manner,  released  from  bondage; 
yet,  under  the  terms  of  the  new  freedom,  they  were  to  some  extent 
subjected  to  tyranny  and  expensive  taxation  at  the  hands  of  the  State. 

In  1863  there  was  another  revolt  in  Poland,  which  was  suppressed 
with  cruel  completeness,  and  Alexander  declined  to  grant  his  sub- 
jects any  greater  liberties.  His  persistence  in  a  course  of  despotism 
led  to  the  movement  known  as  nihilism,  in  which  every  educated  and 
peacefully  inclined  person  took  part,  and  this  in  turn  led  to  terrorism 


RUSSIA 


355 


and  the  employment  of  explosives  in  "removing"  obnoxious  officials. 
Early  in  1878  a  young  woman,  Vera  Zassulitch,  tried  to  kill  General 
Trepoff,  St.  Petersburg's  cruel  and  corrupt  chief  of  police,  and,  fol- 
lowing her  acquittal  by  a  jury  packed  by  the  government,  yet  in  sym- 
pathy with  her  wrongs,  sixteen  persons  were  hanged  and  many  others 
were  sent  to  Siberia.  This  led  to  such  acts  of  violence  by  the  stu- 
dents, together  with  an  attempt  to  kill  the  emperor,  that  Alexander 
was  prevailed  upon  to  grant  the  people  at  least  some  approach  to  a 
popular  assembly.  He  consented  to  the  compromise,  but  was  assassi- 
nated while  driving  to  his  palace,  early  in  1881. 


House  of  the  Senate  and   Holy  Synod,    Petrograd 


Alexander  III  (1881-'94)  did  not  swerve  from  the  example  of  his 
predecessors  in  crushing  all  experiments  toward  liberty.  In  this 
course  he  was  strengthened  by  Pobiedonosteif ,  Procurator  of  the 
Holy  Synod,  yet  a  new  era  had  set  in — ^the  era  of  industrial  enterprise, 
encouraged  by  Count  Witte ;  and  this  began  to  affect  the  social  order 
in  Russia  by  drawing  the  peasants  from  the  farms  to  the  cities.  Many 
of  them  then  heard,  for  the  first  time,  of  republican  institutions,  and 
came  to  know  that  there  was  a  Germany  and  a  France,  and  other 
strange  States,  to  the  west  of  Russia.  Hearing  these  things,  they 
too  began  to  talk  of  liberty.  This  so  alarmed  the  advisers  of  the 
emperor  that  afterward  the  factory  hands  were  sent  back  to  the  farms, 
and  were  replaced  by  farmers ;  but  this  only  had  the  effect  of  spread- 
ing the  news,  and  so  nothing  was  gained  by  it. 

Meanwhile  Russia  continued  to  expand.    Turkestan  was  taken  intp 


356 


COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 


the  fold,  and  so  were  Samarkand,  Bokhara,  and  Khiva,  until  only- 
Afghanistan  remains  as  a  buffer  between  Russia  and  Great  Britain's 
Empire  of  India.  Even  in  Persia  the  Russian  influence  is  pre- 
dominant. 

Nicholas  II,  the  present  emperor,  ascended  the  throne  in  1894. 
The  events  of  his  reign  are  familiar  to  readers  of  our  own  day  who 
will  recall  that  Nicholas  has  pursued  a  wavering  policy,  even  in  the 
case  of  Finland,  whose  independence  he  stifled,  only  to  restore  her 


Russian  Infantrymen,  Veterans  of  the  War  with  Japan 


rights  when  Russia  felt  the  strain  that  came  with  the  war  with  Japan 
in  1904.  By  this  conflict,  arising  from  Russia's  occupation  of  Man- 
churia and  Port  Arthur,  the  corruption  and  incompetence  of  oflicial 
Russia  was  once  more  revealed.  Japan  destroyed  the  Russian  navy, 
and  captured  the  supposedly  impregnable  Port  Arthur  after  one  of 
the  bloodiest  sieges  in  history.  Mukden  fell  in  March,  1905,  and  in 
September  a  treaty  was  signed,  under  the  terms  of  which  Manchuria 
was  evacuated  by  both  nations. 

Meanwhile,  in  1903,  there  was  a  terrible  war-scare  of  Jews  at 
Kishineff*,  and  von  Plehve,  Minister  of  the  Interior,  began  the  exercise 
of  that  ruthless  policy  which  led  to  his  assassination  in  July,  1904. 


RUSSIA 


357 


This  period  marks  the  rise  of  the  Liberals,  the  Social  Democrats,  and 
the  Socialist  revolutionary  party.  During  1904  and  1905  Russia  was 
in  the  throes  of  incipient  revolution.  Reforms  had  been  promised; 
but  on  "Red  Sunday"  (January  22,  1905)  an  army  of  humble,  un- 
armed petitioners — including  men,  women  and  children — on  the  way 
to  the  Winter  Palace  were  shot  down  by  the  imperial  troops.    It  ap- 


Russian  Soldiers  with   Field  Wireless  Apparatus 

peared,  for  a  time,  as  if  all  Russia  might  revolt;  but  torture,  im- 
prisonment, and  exile  to  Siberia  carried  the  day.  The  Grand  Duke 
Sergius,  uncle  of  the  emperor,  was,  however,  "removed"  by  means  of 
a  bomb. 

In  August,  1905,  the  emperor  was  prevailed  upon  to  summon  a 
Duma — a  representative  body  or  council  whose  powers  should  be  lim- 
ited to  advice — and  general  strikes  followed  the  announcement  of  this 
perfunctory  arrangement.  At  Moscow  revolutionists  fought  the 
troops  and  more  Jews  were  murdered.    The  Duma  eventually  met  in 


358 


COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 


May,  1906;  but  the  addresses  made  by  its  members  did  not  please 
the  emperor,  who  dissolved  it  and  appointed  a  date  for  another  meet- 
ing. Various  disorders  followed,  several  thousand  persons  were  killed 
or  maimed  in  the  name  of  good  government,  and,  incidentally,  the 
Jews  suffered  again.  In  1907  the  second  Duma  met,  and  this,  too, 
was  dissolved,  after  it  refused  to  expel  some  of  its  members  and  sur- 
render others  to  the  police.  The  third  Duma,  which  met  in  1907, 
dared  to  declare  that  the  title  "autocrat"  is  "incompatible  with  the 


Russian  Supply  Detachment,  with  IViotor  Transports 


system  put  into  effect  by  the  emperor's  manifesto  of  October  29, 
1905." 

On  July  29,  1914,  following  the  declaration  of  war  by  Austria  on 
Servia,  Russia  began  mobilizing  her  army  to  go  to  the  aid  of  Servia, 
whereupon  the  German  emperor,  after  demanding  that  mobilization 
of  the  Russian  armies  be  discontinued,  declared  war  on  Russia, 
August  1,  1914.  On  August  6  Russia  declared  war  against  Aus- 
tria. A  promise  to  reunite  Poland  and  give  it  autonomy  secured  the 
loyalty  of  the  Poles  in  the  war,  and  all  opposition  to  the  Govern- 
ment was  put  aside,  to  present  a  united  front  to  the  enemy.  On 
August  17  the  first  Russian  troops  invaded  German  territory  in. 
Eydtkuhnen,  Prussia,  which  action  was  soon  followed  by  the  Russian 
occupation  of  Insterharg,  on  the  way  to  the  fortress  of  Koenigsberg. 


BALKAN 
PENINSULA 


PETER     (PETAR)     I 

King  of  Servla.     Born  in  Belgrade,  Juiy  12,  1844.     Son  of  Prince  Alexander  I,  Kara-Georgevitch. 

Fought  with  Distinction  in  the  French  Army,  in  the  Franco-Prussian  War.      Proclaimed 

King  June  15,  1903,  After  the  Assassination  of  King  Alexander,  of  the  Rival 

Dynasty  of  Obrenovitch.     Married  Zorka,  Princess  of  Montenegro, 

Sister   of   the    Queen    of    Italy,    August    11,    1883 

360 


SERVIA  361 

Servia. — Servia,  south  of  Hungary,  is  divided  from  her  Austro- 
Magyar  enemies  by  the  Danube  and  the  Save.  On  the  east  lies  Bul- 
garia; on  the  south,  Greece;  on  the  west,  Albania  and  Montenegro. 
Servia  is  thus  an  inland  State,  her  march  to  the  sea  by  way  of  Albania 
having  been  checked  by  the  Powers,  who  are  not  friendly  to  Slav  ad- 
ventures in  the  Adriatic. 

By  the  war  of  1912  Servia's  area  was  doubled.  Her  expansion  to 
the  south  embraces  the  whole  of  Macedonia  under  her  occupation,  and 
some  territory  east  of  the  old  vilayet  of  Kossovo.  Her  area  now  ap- 
proximates 34,000  square  miles,  and  her  population  is  about  5,000,000. 
The  wars  with  Turkey  and  Bulgaria  cost  her,  in  money  alone,  more 
than  $90,000,000. 

Servia  is  a  tableland,  cut  up  by  mountains  and  valleys.  The  high- 
lands in  the  east  link  the  Transylvania  Alps  with  the  Balkans.  From 
the  southeast  to  the  middle  of  the  northern  boundary  line  runs  the 
broad  and  fertile  valley  of  the  JNIorava  River,  and  near  the  center  of 
the  country  the  southern  and  western  forks  of  this  river  come  together. 
Still  another  river,  the  Drina,  a  tributary  of  the  Save,  forms  much  of 
the  western  boundary.  Well-watered  and  fertile,  with  perhaps  70  per 
cent,  of  its  area  productive,  it  is  a  country  of  small  farms,  few  of  them 
exceeding  thirty  acres.  More  than  4,500,000  acres  are  under  culti- 
vation, mostly  in  cereals.  Plums  and  prunes  are  exported  in  large 
quantities.  The  timber  of  the  forests  supplies  stores  for  casks  ex- 
ported to  Austria  and  France.  In  1911  the  country  contained  more 
than  150,000  horses  and  nearly  1,000,000  head  of  cattle.  Silk  culture 
employed  more  than  30,000  persons.  Servian  industries  are  progress- 
ing. These  include  flour-milling,  brewing  and  distilling,  and  the  an- 
cient industry  of  carpet-weaving — a  specialty  of  the  southeastern  sec- 
tion, where  the  secrets  of  colors  and  dyeing  are  handed  down  from 
father  to  son.  The  mines  of  copper,  coal  and  lead  are  largely  under 
government  control. 

In  1910,  the  capital,  Belgrade,  on  the  Danube,  had  a  population  of 
90,000.  Next  to  this  in  size  are  Monastir  and  Uskiib,  newly  acquired 
from  the  Turks,  with  populations  approximating  60,000  and  47,000 
respectively.  Belgrade  has  a  university;  the  State  supports  public 
schools,  and  makes  elementary  education  compulsory.  Yet  in  1900 
only  17  per  cent,  of  the  total  population  could  read  and  write. 


362 


COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 


1                                             ««.     -    "^                .1         II        1     WMh. 

tF 

F 

i^JkJ^ 

'^^SiJi^^l 

l^^wb 

.^*-, 

v 

'i^ 

f>-  r^--  <^ 

P^(R'.-' 

Belgrade,  the  Capital  of  Servia,  Austrian  Territory  In  the  Distance 


It  is  interesting  to  note  that,  unlike  the  advanced  States  of  Eu- 
rope, Servia  is  without  paupers.  Even  in  its  capital,  Belgrade,  the 
very  poor  are  so  few  that  a  workhouse  is  unnecessary.  Thus  every 
Servian  who  goes  forth  to  fight  for  his  country  does  not  battle  for  an 
abstract  cause  or  idea,  but  fights  to  protect  land  of  which  he  is  the 
actual  owner.  This  perhaps  helps  to  explain  that  prowess  in  war 
which  has  so  recently  elicited  the  admiration  of  the  world.  Yet  war  is 
the  great  burden  under  which  the  Servian  labors.  Previous  to  the 
struggle  for  independence  in  1876,  there  was  no  public  debt.  In 
1903,  owing  largely  to  the  liabilities  imposed  by  the  Powers  under  the 
Treaty  of  Berlin,  the  public  debt  had  become  $81,500,000;  on  Janu- 
ary 1,  1913,  it  was  more  than  $131,000,000. 

In  order  to  pay  the  interest,  the  Government,  acting  through  a 
licensed  company  organized  for  the  purpose,  controls  the  revenue 
from  the  manufacture  of  tobacco,  salt,  petroleum,  matches,  cigarette- 
paper,  and  alcohol. 

Every  man  between  18  and  50  years  of  age  is  liable  for  military 


SERVIA 


363 


service.     The  war  strength  is  about  175,000,  with  95,000  additional 
soldiers  in  reserve. 

The  country  was  conquered  by  the  Turks  at  the  battle  of  Kossovo 
(the  "Field  of  Blackbirds")  in  1389.  In  the  seventeenth  and  eight- 
eenth centuries,  a  great  number  of  Servians  left  their  native  land  and 
settled  in  Hungary,  where  their  descendants  live  to-day.  In  the  open- 
ing years  of  the  nineteenth  century,  Kara  (Black)  George  led  a  revolt 
against  Turkish  rule,  but  he  was  assassinated  in  1817  by  Obrenovich. 


Servian  Women-soldiers,  Members  of  the  "League- of  Death" 


The  princes  of  this  house  ruled  Servia  until  1842,  when  Alexander, 
son  of  Black  George,  was  chosen  prince  by  the  National  Assembly. 
In  1859  he  was  forced  to  abdicate,  and  was  succeeded  first  by  the  aged 
Milosh,  and  then  by  Michael  of  the  same  house,  who,  in  turn,  was 
murdered  in  1868.  Michael's  cousin,  Milan,  then  mounted  the  throne, 
and  in  1878  Servia  achieved  its  independence  of  Turkey,  and  he  was 
proclaimed  king.  Upon  his  abdication  in  1899,  he  was  succeeded  by 
his  son,  Alexander.  Four  years  later  King  Alexander  and  Queen 
Draga  were  murdered  by  army  officers  representing  the  old  Kara 
George  dynasty;  and  thus,  after  a  century  of  feuds,  Peter  I,  the 
reigning  king,  is  the  third  of  his  house  to  rule  over  Servia. 


364. 


COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 


Nicholas   I,   King  of   Montenegro 

Montenegro — Montenegro  is  8  miles  in  width  and  100  miles  in 
length,  from  north  to  south.  Since  the  war  of  1912-'13,  it  has  pos- 
sessed a  seaboard  about  28  miles  in  length;  otherwise,  it  is  shut  off 
from  the  Adriatic  on  the  west  by  the  tip  of  Austrian  Dalmatia.  Bos- 
nia bounds  it  on  the  northwest,  Servia  on  the  east,  Albania  on  the 
south.  Under  the  new  dispensation,  it  takes  in  a  little  slice  of  Turkey, 
and  it  has  an  area  of  5,800  square  miles  (a  little  larger  than  Con- 
necticut), with  a  population  of  500,000.  It  is  rugged  and  mountain- 
ous, and  its  people  are  mostly  farmers  belonging  to  the  Servian  branch 
of  the  Slavs,  and,  in  the  main,  to  the  Greek  Church.    Crime  is  rare. 


ALBANIA  365 

There  is  free,  compulsory  education;  at  Cettinje,  the  capital  (popula- 
tion, 5,000) ,  there  are  a  boys'  college  and  a  girls'  high  school.  Danilo 
Petrovic,  prince-bishop,  overturned  Turkish  rule  in  1697,  and  obtained 
Russian  support.  Montenegro  was  a  principality  up  to  1910,  and  was 
then  proclaimed  a  kingdom.  A  constitution,  with  popular  representa- 
tion, was  granted  in  1905  by  the  present  ruler,  King  Nicholas  I,  a 
collateral  descendant  of  Petrovich. 

A  Montenegrin  may  be  called  upon  to  bear  arms  at  any  time  from 
his  eighteenth  to  his  sixty-second  year.  Montenegro  has  no  cavalry. 
Its  war  strength  does  not  exceed  40,000  men,  but  King  Nicholas  made 
a  brave  showing  in  the  recent  conflict  with  the  Turks.  On  August 
8  Montenegro  declared  war  on  Austria. 

Albania — The  chief  use  of  Albania  is  its  employment  by  the  Pow- 
ers in  preventing  Servia  from  reaching  the  sea.  It  lies  south  of 
Montenegro,  with  the  Strait  of  Otranto  on  the  west,  and  Greece  and 
Servia  on  the  east.  Its  estimated  area  is  12,000  square  miles,  and  its 
population,  of  Czechs  in  the  north  and  Tosks  in  the  south,  is  estimated 
at  2,000,000.  It  is  a  neglected  and  undeveloped  country,  with  much 
of  the  arable  land  untilled.  Its  interior  is  rugged,  and  its  coast  land 
is  swampy  and  unhealthful.  Bandits  and  warring  tribes  keep  the 
country  free  of  tourists;  besides,  there  are  no  railways  and  the  few 
bridges  are  unsafe.  The  best  known  towns  are  Scutari  and  Durazzo. 
The  chief  river  is  the  Drin.  It  was  called  lUyria  in  ancient  times.  In 
the  second  century  b.  c.^  it  was  a  Roman  province.  Slav  tribes  settled 
it  in  the  Middle  Ages,  and  the  Turks  subdued  it  in  1478.  Early  in  the 
eighteenth  century  it  became  virtually  independent  under  Ali  Pasha — 
one  of  Lord  Byron's  heroes.  The  Powers  have  made  an  independent 
State  of  Albania,  vesting  the  government  in  the  hands  of  a  prince 
supported  and  advised  by  an  international  commission  of  control. 
Prince  William  Frederick  Henry  of  Wied,  a  nephew  of  Rumania's 
Queen  Elizabeth,  whose  name  in  literature  is  "Carmen  Sylva,"  has 
accepted  the  crown.    The  future  of  the  country  is  problematical. 


ITALY 


i{«nLali»ac*  Ldu»' 


S66 


ITALY 


367 


The   Kings  of  Italy  and  Servia 


Italy. — From  the  beginning  of  the  earliest  historical  records,  Italy 
has  been  an  "earthly  paradise,"  for  no  country  combining  such  beauti- 
ful scenery,  delightful  climate,  fertile  land,  and  picturesque  waters  is 
found  elsewhere.  Italy  to-day  may  be  regarded  as  divided  into  three 
sections:  the  northern,  including  Piedmont,  Venetia,  Liguria,  and 
Lombardy,  and  bounded  bj^  Austria-Hungary  and  Switzerland;  the 
central  part,  embracing  the  ancient  Etruscan,  Latium,  and  Umbrian 
divisions ;  and  the  southern,  which  includes  the  Samnite,  Apulian,  and 
Calabrian  districts,  with  Sardinia  and  Sicily,  the  islands  in  the  Bay  of 
Naples,  the  Lipari  group,  and  the  Trentini  Islands  in  the  Adriatic 
Sea.  On  the  east  it  is  bounded  by  the  eastern  Alps,  separating  it  from 
the  Austrian  provinces  of  Carinthia  and  Carniola  and  the  Adriatic ;  on 
the  south  by  the  Ionian  Sea ;  on  the  west  by  the  Tyrrhene  and  Ligur 
rian  Seas  and  the  western  Alps,  which,  together  with  the  river  Var,  sep- 
arate it  from  France.  From  north  to  south,  the  length  of  the  country 
is  about  718  miles;  its  breadth  varies  from  90  to  350  miles.  The 
total  area  of  Italy  proper  is  110,659  square  miles.  The  coast-line, 
which  is  washed  by  five  seas,  is  2,272  miles  long,  and  that  of  the  islands 


HIS    HOLINESS     POPE     BENEDICT    XV 

The  New   Pope  Owes  His  Election   indirectly  to  the  War,  Which   Bore  so  Heavily  on   Hic 

PredecessoPi  Plus  X,  That  the  Days  of  the  Late  Pontiff  Were  Shortened 

368 


ITALY  369 

1,944  miles.  The  population  of  Italy,  with  her  islands,  is  34,686,653. 
Among  the  Alpine  heights,  6,000  feet  above  the  sea-level,  rises 
the  river  Po,  360  miles  long,  the  largest  river  in  Italy,  the  tributaries 
of  which  drain  an  area  of  27,000  square  miles'.  From  the  western  end 
of  the  Alps  the  Apennine  Mountains  begin,  and  thence  they  extend 
south  like  a  backbone  throughout  the  length  of  the  peninsula. 


Officers  of  Many  Nations  at  Italian  Maneuvers 

Besides  Italy  proper  and  her  surrounding  islands,  her  provinces 
and  dependencies  include  San  Marino,  the  oldest  and  smallest  inde- 
pendent republic  in  the  world,  situated  far  up  on  a  steep  ledge  of 
the  Apennines,  and  covering  an  area  of  only  thirty-two  square  miles ; 
Eritrea,  in  northwestern  Africa,  which  exports  pearls,  mother-of- 
pearl,  and  hides;  Somaliland,  the  Italian  part  of  which  occupies  the 
central  tip  of  Africa  on  the  eastern  coast  between  the  equator  and 
Lat.  12°  N.;  the  Tientsin  concession  in  China,  which  was  leased  by 
Italy  in  1902,  and  covers  an  area  of  eighteen  square  miles;  and  Trip- 
oli, in  northern  Africa,  which  was  under  Turkish  government  from 


370 


COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 


the  sixteenth  century  until  the  year  1912,  when  Italy  annexed  the 
territory  and  declared  war  on  Turkey,  the  result  of  which  was  the 
ratification  by  Turkey  of  the  annexation,  embodied  in  the  Treaty  of 
Ouchy  in  October,  1912. 

Over  these  dominions  reigns  Victor  Emmanuel  III,  great-grand- 
son of  Victor  Enmianuel  I,  the  first  king  of  United  Italy  after  her 
liberation  in  1860.     Victor  Enmianuel  III  ascended  the  throne  in 


Italian  Cavalry,  Among  the  Best  In  Europe 


July,  1900.  The  king  possesses  executive  power  but  is  represented  by 
responsible  ministers.  Legislative  power  is  exercised  by  the  king  and 
the  parliament,  the  latter  divided  into  two  bodies — the  Senate  and 
the  House  of  Deputies.  The  Senate  is  formed  from  princes  of  the 
royal  blood  and  from  life  members  appointed  by  the  king.  The  king's 
cabinet  of  ministers  is  composed  of  eleven  members. 

Members  of  the  House  of  Deputies  are  elected  to  office  by  male 
citizens  over  the  age  of  twenty-one.  Citizens  more  than  thirty  years 
old,  who  are  not  priests  or  who  do  not  hold  any  other  public  office,  are 
eligible  as  members  of  the  House  of  Deputies.    Their  term  of  office 


ITALY 


371 


lasts  five  years.  Parliament  meets  every  year,  and  the  king  has  au- 
thority to  dissolve  it  at  any  time. 

The  country  is  divided,  for  administrative  purposes,  into  twelve 
provinces.  These  are  subdivided  into  197  territories,  and  these  again 
are  divided  into  communes,  the  number  of  which,  according  to  the  last 
report,  is  8,320. 

Education  in  Italy  is  compulsory  up  to  the  age  of  twelve,  and 


A  Group  of  Italian  Officers,  One  of  the  Famous  Bersaglieri   on  the   Left 


every  commune  must  have  at  least  one  elementary  school  for  boys  and 
one  for  girls.  The  schools  are  graded  as  elementary,  secondary,  and 
higher.  There  are  numerous  private  schools,  technical  schools,  and  in- 
stitutions for  special  branches  of  study. 

The  State  religion  is  Roman  Catholic,  but  all  denominations  are 
free  to  hold  their  private  opinions  and  public  religious  services.  The 
civil  Government  was  once  connected  with  the  Catholic  clergy,  but  has 
not  been  so  since  1870.  The  seat  of  the  Roman  Catholic  government 
is  in  Rome,  where  its  affairs  are  directed  from  the  Palace  of  the  Vati- 
can by  the  pope,  assisted  by  archbishops  and  cardinals. 


372 


COUNTRIES    INVOLVED 


Service  in  the  Italian  army  is  compulsory.  As  soon  as  a  young 
man  reaches  the  age  of  nineteen,  he  is  liable  to  be  called  on  to  enter 
the  army  at  any  time  up  to  the  age  of  thirty-nine.  The  period  of 
service  is  two  years  in  the  ranks,  eight  years  in  the  reserves,  four  years 
in  the  active  militia,  and  seven  years  in  the  territorial  militia.  The 
total  organized  strength  of  the  army  is  400,000,  the  standing  army 
numbering  291,679. 

Italy  possesses  some  of  the  largest  ships  in  the  world,  including  8 


Type  of  Armored  Automobile   Used   in    Italian    Army 

battleships,  10  armored  cruisers,  13  gun-boats,  22  destroyers,  6  pro- 
tected cruisers,  83  torpedo-boats,  and  9  submarines,  with  a  naval  per- 
sonnel of  1  admiral,  22  vice-  and  rear-admirals,  1,875  officers  of 
various  ranks,  and  33,000  men. 

The  opening  of  the  war  placed  Italy  in  a  decidedly  equivocal  posi- 
tion. Ever  since  1882  she  has  been  a  member  of  the  Triple  Alliance 
with  Germany  and  Austria,  and  was  expected  by  her  two  allies  to 
join  them  in  the  struggle.  Italy,  however,  cherishes  an  enmity  of  long 
standing  against  Austria,  which  at  one  time  held  and  tyrannized  over 
a  large  part  of  what  is  now  Northern  Italy.  Italy  joined  Prussia  in 
the  war  against  Austria  in  1866,  and  her  forces  were  badly  beaten  at 


ITALY 


373 


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Italian    Field   Telegraph    Detachment 


Custozza  on  land  and  at  Lissa  on  the  sea;  but  victorious  Prussia 
forced  Austria  to  give  up  her  Italian  province  of  Venetia.  An  ex- 
tensive Austrian  territory  adjoining  Venetia  at  the  head  of  the  Adri- 
atic Sea  is  inhabited  by  Italian-speaking  people,  however,  and  Italy 
looks  upon  those  provinces  in  much  the  same  way  as  the  French  upon 
Alsace  and  Lorraine.  Italy,  moreover,  is  deeply  indebted  to  France 
for  her  aid  in  the  liberation  of  the  country  from  Austria  in  1859,  when 
the  armies  of  Napoleon  III,  in  alliance  with  Sardinia,  won  the  bat- 
tles of  Magenta  and  Solferino.  Finally,  Italy  has  a  traditional 
friendship  with  England,  who  has  given  her  many  evidences  of  sin- 
cere sympathy. 

On  the  outbreak  of  the  war  the  Italian  Government,  instead  of 
joining  Austria  and  Germany,  declared  its  neutrality,  on  the  ground 
that  the  treaty  of  alliance  bound  Italy  to  throw  her  military  resources 
into  the  scale  only  in  case  her  allies  were  attacked  by  other  powers, 
and  she  was  under  no  obligation  to  join  Germany  and  Austria  in  a 
war  in  which  they  were  the  aggressors.  At  the  same  time  a  partial 
mobilization  of  the  army  was  ordered.  Popular  feeling  in  favor  of 
the  Allies  gave  rise  to  violent  demonstrations;  and  the  eagerness  of 
nearly  all  classes  to  take  advantage  of  the  opportunity  to  wrest  from 
Austria  the  long-coveted  "Italia  irredenta"  was  strongly  manifested. 


/ 


374 


JAPAN  -^75 

Japan. — The  old  geographers  used  to^  say  that  Japan  lay  off  the 
coast  of  China  at  the  far  eastern  end  of* the  world;  but  to  Americans 
of  to-day  Japan  lies  to  the  far  west.  Its  boundaries  run  along  differ- 
ent lines  to  the  Japanese  themselves,  for  on  the  north  they  have  Rus- 
sian neighbors  in  half  of  Saghalien  and  in  Siberia;  on  the  south,  North 
Americans  and  Filipinos ;  and  Formosa  and  Korea,  known  officially 
as  Chosen,  once  belonging  to  China,  are  now  part  of  the  Empire  of 
Japan. 

The  whole  empire  is  made  up  of  about  four  thousand  islands,  of 
which  thirteen  are  reckoned  as  great  islands,  the  largest  being  Hondo, 
on  which  live  about  four  fifths  of  the  Japanese  people.  Other  large 
islands  are  Shikoku,  Kiushiu,  Sado,  Oki,  Awaji,  Iki,  and  Tsuchima. 
Yezo  and  the  so-called  "Thousand  Isles"  are  far  to  the  north.  These 
isles  of  the  long-continued  archipelago  are  farther  north  than  the 
northernmost  part  of  the  United  States,  and  those  farthest  south  are  in 
the  tropic  region.  Japanese  territory  altogether  covers  163,000  square 
miles,  making  a  total  area  a  little  larger  than  California.  Including 
the  Asiatic  peninsula  of  Korea,  annexed  to  Japan  in  1910,  and  of 
Formosa,  annexed  in  1904,  the  population  is  about  66,000,000. 

The  constitution  of  Japan  is  that  of  a  monarchy  with  represen- 
tative institutions,  based  on  German  forms.  Executive  power  is 
vested  in  the  emperor,  under  the  advice  of  his  cabinet  ministers,  chosen 
by  him  and  responsible  to  him.  The  Imperial  Diet  consists  of  the 
House  of  Peers  and  the  House  of  Representatives.  The  former  is 
composed  of  all  adult  men  of  the  imperial  family,  other  persons  ap- 
pointed by  the  emperor,  and  certain  public  officials  in  each  city  of  the 
first  class.  The  House  of  Representatives  is  composed  of  members 
elected  from  each  district  of  the  empire.  The  country  is  divided  and 
subdivided,  for  local  administration,  into  prefectures,  municipalities, 
and  counties,  towns,  and  villages. 

In  1871  a  national  system  of  education  was  established,  largely 
with  the  aid  of  American  teachers.  Instead  of  the  old  teaching,  given 
in  temples  or  in  private  houses,  where  the  children  sat  on  the  floor  and 
learned  only  the  rudiments  of  arithmetic  and  literature,  the  pupils 
are  taught  in  .graded  classes  in  schoolhouses  built  and  arranged  in 
modern  western  style.  Japan  has  three  universities,  more  than  26,000 
elementary  schools,  and  numerous  middle,  high,  and  normal  schools, 


JAPANESE    TRENCHES    IN    MANCHURIA 
European  soldiers  are  now  scoring  the  countryside   with   hundreds  of   miles  of  trenches  Just 

like  these 

376 


JAPAN  377 

many  schools  for  special  studies,  such  as  music,  science,  commerce, 
agriculture,  the  fine  arts,  and  naval  and  military  instruction. 

As  in  many  countries  of  Europe,  military  service  is  compulsory. 
Service  is  for  two  or  three  years  in  the  ranks,  and  then  five  years  and 
four  months  in  the  reserves.  After  serving  seven  years  and  four 
months  in  the  first  line,  the  men  are  transferred  to  the  kohi,  which  cor- 
responds to  the  German  Landwehr,  or  first  reserves.  This  service  is 
for  ten  years,  and  the  men  next  enter  the  territorial  or  home-defense 
army,  serving  two  years  and  eight  months.  Up  to  1914  the  total  peace 
strength  was  225,000  officers  and  men;  the  war  footing  740,000. 

The  navy  consists  of  four  dreadnoughts,  ten  battle-ships  of  the 
first  class  and  four  of  the  second  class,  twenty-nine  steel  cruisers, 
ninety-five  torpedo-boat  destroyers,  sixty-four  torpedo  boats,  and  six- 
teen submarines.    About  36,000  officers  and  men  are  on  the  active  list. 

Japan  became  involved  in  the  war  because  of  her  treaty  of  alli- 
ance with  Great  Britain.  On  August  4,  1914,  Great  Britain  asked 
Japan  what  she  could  expect  in  the  way  of  naval  assistance  for  the 
protection  of  British  shipping  in  the  Pacific.  Japan  agreed  to  join 
Great  Britain,  provided  that  she  be  allowed  to  demand  and  enforce 
the  evacuation  by  Germany  of  Kiau-Chau,  a  territory  embracing 
about  200  square  miles,  "leased"  from  China  for  ninety-nine  years, 
March  6,  1898,  after  its  seizure  by  force  in  November,  1897.  Great 
Britain  assented,  on  the  condition  that  the  territory  be  returned 
to  China  after  the  war.  Japan  consented,  and  sent  an  ulti- 
matum, expiring  at  noon  on  August  24,  to  Germany,  "advis- 
ing" the  evacuation  of  the  port  of  Tsing-tau,  and  the  disarma- 
ment of  warships  in  that  harbor.  Germany  ignored  the  ultimatum, 
war  was  immediately  declared,  and  Japanese  forces  promptly  dis- 
patched to  invest  Tsing-tau.  Such  is  the  official  history  of  Japan's 
participation  in  the  war;  but  it  is  doubtful  if  the  treaty  with  Great 
Britain  would  have  brought  Japan  into  the  fray  had  it  not  been  for 
the  bitter  feeling  against  Germany  which  Japan  has  nursed  since 
1895,  when  Germany's  threats  forced  her  to  give  up  Port  Arthur 
after  her  victory  over  China.  A  grievance  of  a  more  sentimental 
character,  but  perhaps  none  the  less  strong  for  that,  is  the  kaiser's 
flaunting  of  the  "Yellow  Peril,"  and  the  treatment  of  the  Japanese 
by  the  Germans  in  conformity  with  that  insulting  watchword. 


VIEWS    IN     THE     HAGUE 
1.   Place  du    Grand    March^,      2.    Le   Mus^e    (Maurits   Huls).      3.    Royal    Palace.      4.    The    Vijver 

378 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE   HAGUE   CONFERENCE 

At  a  time  when  almost  the  whole  of  Europe  and  the  most  power- 
ful military  nation  of  Asia  are  in  arms,  and  a  war  of  staggering  di- 
mensions is  in  progress,  it  may  seem  that  a  reference  to  The  Hague 
Conference  and  the  efforts  hitherto  made  to  promote  universal  peace 
can  be  met  only  with  derision.  The  peace  palace  at  The  Hague,  "the 
capital  of  the  world,"  appears  for  the  time  being  like  a  monument  to 
the  fatuity  of  those  who  have  had  faith  in  the  nobler  side  of  mankind, 
and  the  tomb  of  the  blasted  hopes  of  impracticable  visionaries.  The 
outlook  certainly  is  gloomy;  but,  Utopian  as  the  idea  may  seem,  the 
cause  of  peace  may  nevertheless  be  powerfully  advanced  by  this  war. 
Civilization  cannot  be  dissolved  in  blood ;  and  there  is  ground  for  the 
hope  that  the  frightful  catastrophe  which  has  befallen  mankind  by  its 
insane  competition  in  war-ships  and  armament  may  bring  it  to  its 
senses,  and  lead  the  people  who  have  had  to  pay  the  cost  of  this  war 
in  the  lives  of  their  loved  ones  to  determine  once  for  all  that  they  will 
no  longer  submit  to  the  chiefs  whose  frantic  greed  for  territory  and 
military  glory  have  plunged  them  into  misery  and  ruin. 

In  1801,  England,  fearing  that  Napoleon  would  coerce  the  Danes 
into  placing  their  powerful  fleet  in  his  hands,  sent  Lord  Nelson  to 
Copenhagen.  Although  Denmark  was  then  at  peace  with  England 
and  had  as  yet  done  her  no  injury,  Nelson  destroyed  the  Danish  fleet. 
In  1914  Germany,  though  pledged  by  treaty  to  respect  the  neutrality 
of  Belgium,  invaded  that  country  and  overran  it  with  a  huge  army. 
Such  has  been  the  progress  of  a  century  in  international  morality.  To 
those  who  wage  war,  the  solemn  obligations  of  a  treaty  are  as  lightly 
regarded  as  human  lives,  and  it  is  evident  that  the  conventions  of  The 
Hague  Conference,  to  which  the  nations  of  the  world  have  bound 
themselves,  are  likely  to  receive  scant  courtesy  while  the  war  is  in 
progress.     We  cannot  help  feeling,  nevertheless,  that  The  Hague 

379 


380  THE    HAGUE    CONFERENCE 

Conference  was  a  distinct  achievement  of  civilization,  shining  still  like 
a  good  deed  in  a  naughty  world,  and  a  brief  account  of  it  may  have 
more  than  an  academic  interest. 

The  first  peace  conference,  called  at  the  instance  of  the  Emperor 
of  Russia,  sat  at  The  Hague — the  seat  of  the  government  of  the  Neth- 
erlands, though  not  its  official  capital — from  May  18  to  July  29,  1899. 
One  hundred  delegates  from  the  European  Powers,  the  United 
States,  Mexico,  China,  Japan,  Siam,  and  Persia  were  in  session.  The 
smaller  American  republics  were  not  invited  to  attend.  The  Confer- 
ence discussed  the  limitation  of  armaments,  the  adjustment  by  arbi- 
tration of  international  disputes,  and  measures  for  rendering  land 
warfare  more  humane.  It  was  agreed  that  the  principles  of  the  Ge- 
neva Convention  regarding  war  on  land  should  be  applied  to  naval 
warfare.  The  chief  accomplishment  of  the  convention  was  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  permanent  court  of  arbitration,  M^hich  provides  the  ma- 
chinery for  arbitration  of  such  disputes  as  anj^  of  the  nations  may 
desire  to  submit  to  it,  and  the  foundation  of  an  international  bureau 
of  this  court,  under  the  control  of  a  permanent  administrative  coun- 
cil consisting  of  the  diplomatic  representatives  of  the  signatory  Pow- 
ers to  the  government  of  the  Netherlands,  and  presided  over  by  the 
Dutch  minister  of  foreign  affairs. 

A  second  conference  was  called  by  the  Emperor  of  Russia  in  1907, 
and  it  sat  from  June  15  to  October  18,  two  hundred  and  fifty-six  dele- 
gates being  present.  In  the  second  conference  the  smaller  Powers, 
excluded  from  the  first  conference,  were  represented ;  and  their  claims 
to  equal  representation  with  the  great  Powers  were  a  cause  of  dis- 
sension. It  was  finally  decided  that  all  the  signatory  Powers,  large 
and  small,  shall  have  the  right  to  nominate  not  more  than  four  mem- 
bers to  the  permanent  court  of  arbitration. 

The  signatory  powers  are  under  no  obligation  to  resort  to  the 
court  of  arbitration,  and  two  countries  may  choose  whom  they  please 
to  act  as  arbitrators  in  any  dispute  between  them ;  but  if  they  decide  to 
submit  their  diff'erences  to  The  Hague  tribunal,  the  judges  or  arbi- 
trators must  be  chosen  from  among  the  members  of  the  permanent 
court.  This  court,  of  course,  has  no  means  of  enforcing  its  decisions, 
and  very  little  to  guide  it  in  the  way  of  a  definite  body  of  international 
law  commanding  general  respect.     We  are  still  far  from  the  time 


THE    HAGUE    CONFERENCE  381 

when  a  great  Power  may  be  haled  to  the  court  at  The  Hague  and 
forced  to  do  justice  to  a  small  one,  by  legal  injunction. 

The  Hague  tribunal,  nevertheless,  has  by  no  means  been  a  dead 
letter.  In  the  year  1902  it  tried  its  first  case,  the  issue  of  the  pious 
fund  of  the  Calif ornias,  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico,  and 
in  1904  it  adjusted  the  vexed  question  of  the  preferential  claims  of 
the  creditor  nations  of  Venezuela.  In  7l910  it  settled  the  famous  dis- 
pute of  long  standing  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States 
over  the  North  Atlantic  fisheries.  Its  latest  decisions,  rendered  May 
6, 1913,  were  in  the  "Carthage"  and  "Manouba"  cases,  between  France 
and  Italy.  In  all,  it  has  rendered  judgment  in  thirteen  cases — an 
average  of  nearly  one  a  year  since  its  establishment,  some  of  which 
might  easily  have  led  to  war  had  it  not  been  for  its  friendly  inter- 
vention. 

The  second  conference  also  provided  for  the  establishment  of  an 
international  prize  court,  to  act  as  a  court  of  appeal  from  national 
marine  courts,  upon  decisions  relating  to  vessels  taken  as  prizes  during 
war.  Great  Britain  strongly  objected  to  a  court  in  which  questions 
involving  her  great  maritime  interests  might  be  decided  by  "the  vote 
of  Santo  Domingo  or  Turkey." 

The  question  of  disarmament  was  brought  up,  but  was  discussed 
in  a  perfunctory  and  half-hearted  way,  as  it  was  felt  to  be  beyond  the 
sphere  of  practical  consideration.  Consent — though  not  unanimous  in 
every  instance — was  won  for  the  following  provisions : 

(1)  Neutral  territory  shall  be  inviolable,  and  combatants  may 
take  refuge  therein  under  custody. 

(2)  Belligerents  shall  not  establish  wireless  stations  in  neutral 
territory. 

(3)  Belligerent  ships  shall  take  only  sufficient  supplies  and  suf- 
ficient fuel  in  a  neutral  port  to  take  them  to  the  nearest  port  in  their 
own  country. 

(4)  Nations  shall  not  begin  war  without  a  previous  declaration 
of  war,  stating  the  causes. 

(5)  Neutral  Powers  must  be  promptly  notified  of  a  state  of  war. 

(6)  Explosives  must  not  be  dropped  from  balloons ;  and  expand- 
ing bullets  ("dum-dums")  and  projectiles  purposely  designed  to  give 
off  deadly  fumes  must  not  be  used. 


"Mauretania."   of  the  Cunard  Line 


.  nia,"  of  the  Cunard  Line 


ONCE  COMMERCE  CONVEYERS,  NOW  COMMERCE  DESTROYERS 

These  famous  transatlantic   liners  are  all   in  the   naval   service,  and  the  "Carmania"   has  been 

victorious  in  action  vt^ith  a  hostile  ship 

S82 


THE    HAGUE    CONFERENCE  383 

(7)  Indemnification  may  be  exacted  from  a  nation  that  violates 
any  of  the  rules  of  war. 

(8)  Merchant  vessels  must  be  allowed  a  fixed  time  in  which  to 
clear  from  an  enemy's  port  at  the  opening  of  hostilities. 

(9)  Submarine  floating  mines  and  automobile  torpedoes  which 
do  not  quickly  become  harmless  after  they  are  set,  discharged,  or  break 
away  from  their  moorings  must  not  be  employed. 

(10)  Undefended  towns  and  buildings  and  those  ports  whidh 
are  defenseless  or  defended  only  by  mines,  must  not  be  bombarded. 

(11)  Fishing-boats  and  those  engaged  upon  a  scientific,  relig- 
ious, or  charitable  mission  are  not  liable  to  capture. 

(12)  The  inviolability  of  the  postal  service  must  be  respected. 
Since  this  war  began  the  Powers,  or  some  of  them,  have  played 

fast  and  loose  with  many  of  the  foregoing  provisions.  The  humane 
spirit  to  which  they  give  expression  is  utterly  foreign  to  the  instinct 
of  war.  Nations  go  to  war  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  one  another, 
and  it  is  of  little  use  to  ask  them  to  abide  by  any  rules  that  might  de- 
prive them  of  an  opportunity  to  cripple  the  enemy. 

Another  principle  afiirmed  by  the  second  Hague  Convention  is  of 
great  significance  in  American  affairs,  but  has  no  bearing  on  the  pres- 
ent European  war.  This  was  the  recognition  of  the  so-called  "Drago 
Doctrine,"  which  maintains  that  no  government  can  collect  debts  due 
its  nationals  from  the  government  of  another  Power,  unless  an  offer 
to  submit  the  question  to  arbitration  be  first  made,  or  the  delinquent 
government  refuse  to  abide  by  the  judgment  of  the  court  of  arbitra- 
tion. 

The  money  for  the  building  of  the  handsome  peace  palace  that  is 
the  permanent  home  of  the  international  court  and  is  designed  to 
provide  an  assembly  hall  for  future  conferences,  was  the  gift  of  An- 
drew Carnegie. 

Discouraging  as  the  prospect  now  seems,  we  may  venture  to  hope 
that  The  Hague  has  by  no  means  seen  its  last  peace  conference,  and 
that  representatives  of  the  nations  now  at  war  will  some  day  meet 
there  again  to  adopt  measures  that  will  make  impossible  another  such 
contest  as  that  which  is  now  shaking  the  world. 


384 


CHAPTER   XII  f 

THE  EFFECT  OF  THE  WAR  ON  THE  WESTERN  WORU) 

War^  viewed  in  its  widest  perspective,  is  a  disaster;  viewed  from 
the  aspect  of  personal  bereavement,  it  is  a  desolation;  yet  it  is  invaria- 
ble that,  at  certain  points  between  these  two,  war  produces  prosperity. 
The  western  world,  though  not  directly  embroiled  in  the  European 
conflict,  is  keenly  affected  thereby,  suffering  in  certain  fields  of  activ- 
ity and  being  greatly  benefited  in  others.  Rightly  to  determine  what 
will  be  the  favorable  and  the  unfavorable  results  of  the  war  is  a  vital 
issue  to  Americans  in  every  branch  of  business  life. 

For  more  than  a  year  preceding  the  actual  outbreak  of  hostilities, 
trade  conditions  in  the  United  States  had  been  below  the  mean  of  an 
equal  balance,  and  by  June  30,  1914,  the  conditions  of  money  and  of 
industry,  considered  jointly,  showed  business  to  have  reached  a  lower 
point  than  had  been  recorded  since  the  panic  of  1907.  At  the  same 
time,  confidence  had  been  reestablished  in  the  country,  owing  to  re- 
ports of  a  large  cotton  yield,  a  bumper  grain  crop,  and  a  beginning  of 
returning  financial  strength  after  the  currency  turmoil  of  the  spring. 
Upon  this  condition  of  steady  decline  and  heralded  strength  the  dec- 
laration of  war  in  Europe  fell  as  a  thunderbolt. 

In  considering  the  effect  of  the  tremendous  conflict,  conditions  in 
Europe  during  the  months  preceding  the  actual  mobilization  of  the 
armies  should  be  brought  into  their  due  relation.  The  markets  in 
Germany,  France,  and  England  were  even  more  unsound  and  pan- 
icky than  were  those  of  the  United  States,  and,  in  addition,  they 
lacked  the  strength  which,  in  America,  was  anticipated  from  the  crop 
reports.  Since  1912  the  bourses  of  Europe  had  been  liquidating 
American  securities,  at  a  sacrifice,  indeed,  in  order  to  secure  as  much 
gold  as  possible.  Partly  this  selection  of  American  securities  as  the 
best  to  sell  was  due  to  the  stereotyped  maxim  of  the  seller  that  it  is 
wise  to  unload  first  securities  belonging  to  lands  at  a  distance,  and  the 

385 


386 


EFFECT    OF   WAR    ON    WESTERN    WORLD  38T 

knowledge  that  American  gold  was  easy  to  secure  added  a  consider- 
able impetus  to  the  liquidation. 

The  United  States,  therefore,  was  bled  of  her  stock  of  gold.  In 
1914,  up  to  July  25,  $79,800,000  in  gold  bars  had  been  shipped  to 
Europe  from  the  United  States.  Of  this  quantity,  $63,800,000  had 
been  shipped  in  the  ten  weeks  prior  to  the  last  week  in  July.  In  the 
three  days,  July  27-30,  $28,600,000  more  was  shipped,  much  of  this 
being  for  unlisted  securities  delivered  on  the  "Olympic,"  their  charac- 
ter and  total  value  not  being  accurately  known.  This  pressure  upon 
the  gold  reserve  of  the  United  States,  especially  coming  when  it  was 
necessary  to  move  the  crop,  rendered  economic  conditions  such  as  to 
require  the  issuance  of  an  emergency  currency  of  $80,000,000  to 
$90,000,000.  The  principal  feature  of  this  movement  of  gold  to 
Europe  was  the  astounding  stability  shown  by  American  finances  un- 
der the  strain. 

Not  only  did  the  European  bourses  find  it  necessary  to  realize  on 
United  States  securities,  but,  as  far  as  possible,  they  did  the  same 
with  those  of  other  countries.  This  drew  gold  from  those  sources  also 
and  produced  elsewhere  the  same  tightening  of  money.  Not  having 
such  opportunity  for  releasing  the  stringency  as  the  United  States 
possessed  in  the  emergency-currency  legislation,  these  neutral  coun- 
tries became  greatly  in  need  of  money.  Herein  lay  an  immediate 
chance  for  the  investment  of  American  capital,  in  the  buying  of  high- 
grade  foreign  securities  which  had  been  held  preferentially  for 
Europe.  The  interest  is  high,  the  risks  are  not  great,  and  this  field 
of  investment,  long  withheld  from  American  capitalists,  is  now  thrown 
open. 

Immediately  upon  the  opening  of  the  war,  there  was  in  certain 
lines  a  natural  paralysis  of  American  business,  which  is  likely  to  give  a 
false  idea  as  to  the  adverse  eiFect  of  the  European  situation.  All  in- 
dustries that  depend  on  Europe  for  their  raw  materials,  or  ship  raw 
material  to  foreign  manufacturers,  or  find  in  European  countries  the 
best  markets  for  their  products,  are  bound  to  suffer  heavily  at  first. 
Naturally,  the  war  conditions  raised  the  price  of  those  articles  that 
appear  in  the  tables  of  imports  as  having  come  from  Europe  in  large 
quantities.  At  the  same  time,  if  it  continues,  it  will  cause  a  drop  in 
prices  of  all  those  articles  that  are  produced  in  America  in  quantities. 


388 


EFFECT    OF    WAR    ON    WESTERN    WORLD  389 

which  have  formed  the  largest  part  of  our  exports.  This  follows  the 
general  rule  of  supply  and  demand — the  supply  being  reduced  in  the 
former  case  and  increased  in  the  latter. 

From  this  temporary  numbing  of  business  there  must  be  a  rebound, 
and  the  American  manufacturer  has  already  perceived  the  opportu- 
nity that  is  afforded  him  by  the  cessation  of  imports  from  his  Euro- 
pean competitors.  Houses  which  heretofore  have  only  been  able  to 
secure  a  small  share  of  the  trade  of  the  United  States,  by  reason  of 
foreign  competition  from  countries  where  the  wage-rate  is  low,  now 
are  able  to  win  the  whole  domestic  trade.  Numerous  examples  might 
be  quoted.  To  take  a  small  case — yet  one  which  appeals  to  every 
household — the  manufacturers  of  toys  and  games  of  every  kind  will 
reap  a  rich  harvest.  The  "made  in  Germany"  novelties  for  the 
Christmas  trade  will  be  replaced  by  "made  in  America"  articles. 

The  watch-and-clock  industry  has  received  a  considerable  stimu- 
lation from  the  cessation  of  Swiss  competition.  All  the  textiles,  de- 
spite their  loss  of  French  workmen,  show  signs  of  taking  advan- 
tage of  the  situation.  California  wines  will  secure  a  public  notice 
which  the  overshadowing  effect  of  foreign  vintages  has  partly  hid- 
den until  this  time.  In  many  lines  of  industry,  Americans  have  be- 
gun the  production  of  American-made  goods,  and  it  is  expected  that 
before  long  a  domestic  article  will  have  a  reputation  as  high  as  that 
of  the  imported  product. 

The  export  of  cheap  manufactured  articles  from  the  United 
States  into  the  European  commerce  fields  has  been  done  only  on  a 
small  scale,  as  the  bulk  of  the  export  has  been  of  articles  classified  as 
luxuries;  but  the  opportunity  is  good  as  soon  as  the  war  comes  to  an 
end.  Then  the  countries  of  Europe  will  desire  to  resume  life  upon 
its  former  scale,  and  some  time  will  elapse  before  their  industries  are 
again  in  perfected  condition.  It  is  to  be  remembered,  however,  that 
if  the  war  should  continue  for  any  considerable  length  of  time, 
Europe  would  be  too  poor  to  buy  any  but  the  cheapest  articles,  and 
usually  the  cheapest  grades  are  the  least  profitable  to  the  producers. 

Even  these  opportunities,  however,  though  allied  to  the  extension 
of  European  custom,  do  not  promise  a  suflSciently  permanent  trade 
to  justify  the  building  of  a  plant,  since  the  conflict  may  be  brief. 
In  such  case,  the  European  manufactory  would  immediately  begin 


A  DESTROYER  IN  THE  PANAMA  CANAL 

The  Opening  of  This  Great  Waterway  Comes  at  a  Time  When  the  United  States   May   Divert 

Some  of  South  America's  Trade  Which  Formerly  Went  to   Europe 

390 


EFFECT    OF    WAR    ON    WESTERN    WORLD  391 

operations  again,  and  the  capitalist  in  the  United  States  who  had 
begun  the  new  venture  might  find  himself  with  a  useless  or  losing 
factory  on  his  hands.  By  running  a  present  plant  to  full  force, 
however,  he  might  make  a  considerable  sum  of  money,  and  then,  when 
normal  conditions  returned,  those  who  had  helped  him  would  share 
in  the  benefit  and  regain  the  former  situation. 

International  relations  have  become  so  complicated  in  modern 
times,  and  the  articles  that  are  now  deemed  to  be  essentials  are  so 
vastly  more  numerous  than  they  were  a  century  ago,  that  the  ques- 
tion of  military  supplies  is  on  an  entirely  new  basis. 

An  example  of  the  immediate  importance  of  the  progress  of  the 
war  is  seen  in  its  relation  to  the  naval  situation.  As  long  as  the  con- 
trol of  the  seas  is  in  the  hands  of  England,  it  stands  to  reason  that 
facilities  will  be  provided  for  the  safe-conduct  of  ships  handling  our 
export  trade.  English  factories,  therefore,  may  be  regarded  as  ele- 
ments leading  directly  to  Ihe  prosperity  of  the  United  States.  On 
the  other  hand,  as  Germany's  part  in  naval  warfare  is  rather  that  of 
forcing  England  to  the  defensive  than  of  endeavoring  to  secure  ab- 
solute control  of  the  seas,  her  activities  upon  the  water  are  much 
more  likely  to  be  those  of  a  commerce-destroyer.  Accordingly,  in 
this  light,  German  naval  victories  may  be  considered  as  factors  tend- 
ing to  hinder  the  prosperity  of  the  United  States. 

Realization  of  the  close  interdependence  of  nations  brings 
prominently  into  view  the  fact  that  the  profits  received  by  one  nation 
at  the  expense  of  another  form  at  bottom  a  fictitious  prosperity. 
The  depression  following  the  immediate  announcement  of  the  war  is 
likely  to  give  place  to  a  long,  slow  advance  in  the  commodities  that 
the  United  States  can  produce  and  in  the  securing  of  fair  prices  for 
them.  At  the  same  time,  after  this  upward  movement  has  been 
consummated,  the  actual  pinch  will  begin  to  appear,  for  millions  of 
our  customers  will  have  been  slain  on  the  field  of  battle,  thousands  of 
our  best  artisans,  who  returned  to  the  Fatherland  to  join  the  colors, 
will  remain  there  to  take  the  vacant  places  of  the  men  that  were 
killed  in  battle.  The  United  States  thus  will  lose  by  reason  of  the 
depletion  in  numbers  of  her  European  consumers,  and  also  since  the 
war  will  have  been  the  prime  cause  in  the  loss  of  an  efficient  section 
of  her  producing  population. 


392 


EFFECT    OF    WAR    ON    WESTERN    WORLD  393 

The  cessation  of  certain  exports  during  the  continuance  of  the 
war  will  have  a  deadening  effect  on  certain  industries.  For  exam- 
ple, the  Standard  Oil  Company  laid  off  fifteen  thousand  men  within 
a  few  days  after  the  declaration  of  war  by  Germany,  owing  to  the 
fact  that  a  large  part  of  her  oil  exports  go  to  that  country.  The  ex- 
ports and  imports  of  automobiles — which  may  be  classed  as  a  luxury 
— have  fallen  practically  to  nothing,  and  automobile  manufacturers 
are  reducing  their  outputs  to  fit  the  needs  of  the  domestic  trade  as 
well  as  developing  their  opportunities  in  South  American  countries. 

One  of  the  fields  of  business  that  have  been  the  first  to  be  affected 
by  the  war  conditions  is  that  of  agricultural  implements.  The  an- 
nual exports  of  agricultural  machinery  from  the  United  States  have 
been  more  than  $30,000,000,  and  this  business — in  which  America  is 
supreme  among  the  nations  of  the  world — has  dwindled  proportion- 
ately. In  Europe  this  season  the  crops  will  have  to  be  garnered  by 
the  women  and  children;  indeed,  so  urgent  has  become  the  need  of 
gathering  in  •  the  harvest  that  the  governments  of  the  respective 
States  have  issued  a  call  to  the  women,  urging  them  to  sacrifice  every- 
thing and  become  field  hands,  for  the  purpose  of  saving  food.  The 
fear  of  starvation  is  an  ever-present  menace  in  times  of  war.  The 
difficulty  of  securing  the  grain  crop  is  certain  to  be  gl"eatly  in- 
creased by  reason  of  the  lack  of  ability  to  manage  the  farm  machin- 
ery. Not  only  is  this  owing  to  the  lack  of  men  to  work  the  machines, 
but  also  because  the  horses  have  been  commandeered  from  most  of 
the  farms  for  military  purposes. 

The  crops  of  the  United  States  hold  this  year  a  unique  place. 
With  a  demand  for  foodstuffs,  especially  cereals  and  meat,  almost  at 
the  highest  point  possible,  the  country  has  secured  a  buhiper  crop  and 
the  packers  also  foretell  a  good  season.  Yet,  though  the  crop  is  so 
large  and  the  opportunity  of  actually  sending  wheat  to  Europe  is  so 
small,  causing  the  holding  up  of  large  supplies,  the  domestic  price 
increases.  It  is  pointed  out  by  J.  Ward  Warner,  President  of  the 
Produce  Exchange,  that  there  has  been  an  exorbitant  amount  of 
speculative  buying  of  foodstuffs. 

It  has  long  been  a  custom  of  the  European  nations  to  keep  sup- 
plies of  money  on  deposit  in  New  York  for  buying  corn,  wheat,  and 
flour.     For  several  weeks  prior  to  the  declaration  of  war,  orders  for 


394.  EFFECT    OF    WAR    ON    WESTERN    WORLD 

foodstuffs  came  in  thick  and  fast,  and  the  first  two  weeks  after  war 
was  declared  a  vast  amount  of  material  was  ready  for  shipment  to 
Europe  and  waiting  for  bottoms  in  which  to  move  it.  Canada's 
gift  to  the  empire  of  one  million  bags  of  flour  saved  England  from 
an  awkward  situation,  as  her  actual  supplies  were  running  low.  The 
rapid  action  of  the  British  fleet  in  clearing  the  North  Atlantic  and 
safeguarding  her  own  interests  at  the  same  time  relieved  the  tie-up 
in  American  ports  and  allowed  the  movement  of  the  foodstuffs  from 
the  congested  areas. 

The  situation  with  regard  to  foodstuffs  possesses  certain  compU- 
cations  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  these  are  classed  among  the  group 
of  subjects  to  be  considered  as  conditional  contraband.  Absolute 
contraband  consists  of  articles  that  are  used  in  warfare,  such  as  guns, 
ammunition,  and  military  vehicles.  The  principal  articles  listed  as 
conditional  contraband  are  foodstuffs,  forage,  clothing,  boots  and 
shoes,  bullion,  ships  and  boats,  railway  and  telegraph  material,  bal- 
loons and  flying  machines,  fuels  and  lubricants,  barbed  wire,  and 
scientific  instruments.  AU  these,  it  will  be  noted,  are  substances  that 
would  be  likely  to  be  of  service  in  an  extended  war. 

How  thoroughly  this  embargo  applies  is  strongly  evidenced  by 
the  fate  that  has  befallen  the  apple  crop.  The  International  Apple- 
Shippers'  Association  held  its  regular  annual  convention  at  Boston 
in  the  first  week  of  August,  immediately  after  the  outbreak  of  the 
war.  At  this  convention  orders  usually  are  received  representing  the 
movement  of  about  half  the  apple  crop.  The  shippers  for  years 
have  been  enabled  to  place  their  crop  by  this  means,  and  it  has  been 
their  custom  to  go  home,  after  the  convention,  with  the  final  arrange- 
ments made  concerning  shipments,  and  to  rush  the  fruit  away.  But 
at  the  convention  this  year  there  was  not  a  single  large  order,  and 
no  apples  are  being  packed  for  European  shipment. 

Cotton  is  another  crop  that  is  hard  hit  by  the  war.  Despite  of 
the  fact  that  the  crop  is  of  unusual  excellence  in  the  United  States, 
this  will  be  of  little  service  to  cotton-growers  immediately.  By  far 
the  largest  amount  of  the  raw  cotton  produced  in  this  country  is  ex- 
ported to  English  mills,  only  one  fourth  of  it,  and  that  of  the  lower 
grades,  being  retained  in  the  United  States.  There  has  been  a  large 
over-production  of  cotton  goods,  and  for  some  time  past  the  cotton 


395 


396  EFFECT    OF    WAR    ON    WESTERN    WORLD 

mills  in  the  United  Kingdom  have  been  running  on  half  time.  As 
the  warehouses  in  the  Orient  and  elsewhere  are  filled  with  manufac- 
tured cotton  goods,  no  profit  worth  considering  will  accrue  to  Ameri- 
can cotton-growers.  But,  should  the  war  last  long  enough  to  deplete 
the  stocks  now  on  hand,  there  will  be  the  opportunity  of  a  lifetime  in 
the  cotton  business.  Not  only  will  the  American  manufacturer  be 
able  to  dispose  of  his  output  at  a  good  profit,  but  he  will  have  also 
the  opportunity  of  manufacturing  a  higher  grade  of  goods  than  has 
heretofore  been  produced  in  the  United  States. 

In  the  metal  trades  the  market  is  strong.  With  a  widespread  and 
possibly  a  long  war  in  prospect,  pig  iron,  sheet  steel,  bars,  tubes,  bil- 
lets, semi-finished  iron  and  steel  products  are  in  demand.  The  de- 
mand on  this  department  is  intense,  as  much  of  this  material  can  be 
utilized  in  the  manufacture  of  munitions  of  war.  Copper,  which  is 
used  far  more  in  building  construction  than  in  war  material,  shows  a 
decline,  mines  are  shutting  down,  and  there  is  a  general  depression 
through  the  industry.  A  recovery  of  price,  followed  by  a  steadying, 
is  anticipated. 

With  the  conditions  in  the  several  industries  as  they  have  been  out- 
lined, the  next  consideration  that  determines  the  eiFect  of  the  war  upon 
the  western  world  is  that  of  shipping.  The  days  have  long  passed 
since  the  American  clipper  was  the  queen  of  the  seas.  During  the 
first  thirty-five  years  of  the  nineteenth  century,  no  nation  was  more 
justly  proud  of  its  merchant  marine  than  the  American.  But  about 
1840  occurred  the  change  from  wooden  ship  to  iron,  and  thence  to 
steel.  That  was  the  knell  of  the  American  commercial  power  on  the 
sea.  Having  resources  of  coal  and  iron  and  cheaper  labor  than  could 
be  secured  in  the  United  States,  England  plunged  into  the  manufac- 
ture of  steel  vessels.  A  high  protection  was  put  upon  iron,  and  this 
doubly  handicapped  the  American  shipbuilder.  In  addition  to  this, 
the  prohibition  which  refused  to  foreign-built  vessels  the  right  to  fly 
the  American  flag  had  the  efl*ect  of  driving  the  stars  and  stripes 
from  the  sea. 

Since  those  days  a  new  factor  has  entered  into  the  situation.  This 
is  the  fact  that  improved  machinery  and  efficiency  of  handling  now 
enable  the  United  States  to  make  steel  as  cheaply  here  as  anywhere. 
Moreover,  while  the  wages  are  higher  than  in  any  other  shipbuilding 


EFFECT    OF    WAR    ON    WESTERN    WORLD  397 

country,  the  American  is  a  much  more  rapid  workman.  Many  forces 
are  at  work  making  arrangements  to  seize  the  bulk  of  the  carrying 
trade,  if  possible.  Experts  are  unanimously  agreed  that  the  pur- 
chase of  every  foreign  vessel  that  is  seaworthy  should  be  made,  that 
the  laws  should  be  amended  to  admit  the  American  registry  of  such 
.  purchases  and  in  every  way  possible  to  consider  American  vessels  as  a 
commercial  factor. 

For  a  considerable  time  the  advance  of  the  United  States  to  the 
position  of  one  of  the  first  Powers  of  the  world  has  made  it  evident 
that  an  American  mercantile  marine  is  a  necessity,  and  that  this  coun- 
try is  distinctly  failing  to  fulfil  a  part  of  its  mission  in  neglecting 
this  feature  of  its  development.  One  sidelight  was  thrown  on  this 
question  in  the  battle-ship  cruise  around  the  world,  when  it  was  found 
that  an  American  battle-ship  fleet  could  not  be  moved  without  the 
assistance  of  foreign  colliers.  The  present  war  has  thrown  the  need 
of  a  mercantile  marine  into  still  clearer  light.  From  the  point  of 
view  of  commerce,  but  also  with  the  question  of  national  prestige  at 
stake,  there  is  no  denying  the  importance  of  this  development. 

Under  circumstances  similar  to  those  which  .confronted  the 
United  States  at  the  opening  of  the  war,  viz.,  the  knowledge  that 
thousands  of  her  citizens  were  stranded  in  the  countries  of  belliger- 
ents, almost  any  nation  in  the  world  could  have  sent  to  their  assist- 
ance vessels  under  her  own  neutral  flag.  Great  hardships  were 
endured,  and  serious  loss  of  property  resulted,  from  the  fact  that 
America  had  no  ships  to  send.  It  is  true  that  a  situation  such  as  this 
might  never  occur  again ;  but  that  it  could  occur  at  all  shows  a  weak 
link  in  the  chain  of  American  citizenship.  It  hardly  needs  a  prophet 
to  declare  that  one  of  the  lasting  efl*ects  of  the  European  war  upon 
the  western  world  will  be  the  development  of  a  great  mercantile 
marine  on  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  coasts. 

Intimately  connected  with  the  question  of  ships,  and  also  with 
the  loss  of  foreign  trade  by  European  nations  now  grappled  in  con- 
flict and  spending  certainly  not  less  than  $30,000,000  a  day  (the  sta- 
tisticians declare  that  it  is  $50,000,000),  is  the  opportunity  in  South 
and  Central  America.  The  Monroe  Doctrine,  since  the  mediation 
question  in  Mexico,  is  largely  giving  place  to  the  so-called  "A.  B.  C." 


398 


EFFECT    OF    WAR    ON    WESTERN    WORLD 

policy,  and  the  effect  of  this  among  the  republics  of  South  America 
has  been  marked. 

"All  South  America,"  says  John  Barrett,  director-general  of  the 
Pan-American  Union,  "is  an  enormous  purchaser  of  manufactured 
products,  and  she  secures  by  far  the  greatest  part  of  them  from 
Europe,  buying  $700,000,000  v/orth  annually.  Of  this  sum,  almost 
two  thirds  is  from  Germany  alone.  She  also  sells  $800,000,000  worth 
of  her  products  to  Europe." 

Whatever  may  be  the  final  result  of  the  war,  so  far  as  territorial 
changes  of  the  map  of  Europe  are  concerned,  there  is  no  question 
that  the  manufacturing  interests  of  Germany  will  be  seriously  crip- 
pled. The  trade  of  South  America,  therefore,  may  be  handed  over 
to  the  merchants  of  the  United  States  as  if  on  a  golden  platter.  All 
that  is  needed  to  establish  a  relation  of  great  mutual  advantage  is  to 
accept  this  in  the  spirit  in  which  it  is  tendered,  on  our  part  undertak- 
ing to  do  what  Europe  does — ^handle  her  trade  in  the  manner  that 
South  America  wants  and  not  by  the  methods  to  which  many  big 
corporations  and  business  firms  are  hidebound.  A  billion  and  a  half 
dollars'  worth  of  trade  is  there  waiting  for  the  United  States  to  pick 
up,  and  this  volume  of  commerce  is  being  increased  year  by  year  with 
the  rapid  development  of  the  Latin- American  republics. 

"The  war  will  do  much  to  increase  our  trade  prospects  in  South 
America  and  to  enable  us  to  tighten  our  grip  on  the  business  oppor- 
tunities in  this  country,"  said  Frank  A.  Vanderlip,  president  of  the 
National  City  Bank.  "Much  depends  on  whether  we  take  advantage 
of  our  opportunity  to  establish  steamship  lines  and  other  means  of 
transport  for  carrying  our  products  to  South  America,  bringing 
back  their  goods  in  our  own  ships." 

While  it  must  be  remembered  that  Brazil  and  Argentina  and 
Chile  are  not  quite  a  Tom  Tiddler's  ground,  where  gold  and  silver 
may  be  picked  up  for  the  stooping,  at  least  it  is  certain  that  one  of 
the  rarest  opportunities  for  a  young  man  is  that  of  a  business  scout 
in  South  America,  representing  the  United  States  with  the  same 
vigor  and  skill  that  have  deen  displayed  Iby  the  German  scouts.  The 
scout  system,  which  was  devised  by  Germany  to  secure  preferential 
trade  with  countries  all  over  the  world,  has  been  the  most  effective 
form  of  salesmanship  ever  seen.     It  is  America's  chance  to  do  it  now. 


400  EFFECT    OF    WAR    ON    WESTERN    WORLD 

The  consular  reports  are  of  great  assistance ;  but  the  scout,  travehng 
far  and  wide  through  a  country,  with  his  eye  keen  for  business  condi- 
tions and  with  his  intentions  set  on  making  his  firm  the  dominating 
one  in  the  business  in  South  America,  is  of  tenfold  more  service. 

With  the  establishment  of  a  merchant  marine,  the  seizure  of  the 
South  American  trade,  and  the  extension  of  American  trade  into  the 
Orient,  the  evil  effects  of  the  war  upon  America  will  be  minimized, 
and,  at  the  last,  may  be  turned  into  permanent  benefits.  The  open- 
ing of  these  avenues  to  trade  will  serve  to  reduce  the  disaster  that 
this  war  brings  upon  the  labor  world.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  men 
will  be  thrown  out  of  work  because  the  factories  lack  an  outlet  for 
their  wares ;  hundreds  of  thousands  of  families  will  be  left  starving  in 
America  because  of  the  war  in  Europe;  millions  will  suffer  depriva- 
tion of  their  accustomed  state  of  living  because  the  cost  of  commodi- 
ties is  rising  to  a  point  that  will  be  almost  prohibitive. 

On  the  other  hand,  as  soon  as  business  resumes  again,  there  will 
be  an  era  of  unexampled  prosperity  for  the  workingman.  Large 
numbers  of  reservists  have  left  the  United  States  for  their  ow^n  coun- 
tries, many  of  them  skilled  workers  of  great  value  to  America. 
Thousands  never  will  return,  but  in  their  home  land  will  take  the 
places  of  the  men  who  have  been  killed  or  disabled  on  the  battle-field. 
JNIoreover,  immigration  has  stopped  absolutely,  and  even  a  few 
months  of  such  a  stoppage,  with  the  natural  increase  of  opportunity 
in  this  country,  will  afford  abundant  employment  to  all  on  the  resump- 
tion of  normal  conditions. 

The  western  world  will  suffer,  since  in  these  modern  times  all 
nations  are  more  of  kin  than  ever  before  in  the  history  of  the  world. 
In  the  United  States,  members  of  racial  stocks  now  battling  against 
one  another  live  in  peace  and  friendship  side  by  side.  There  is  no  cor- 
ner in  all  this  wide  land  where  news  of  triumph  on  the  one  side  does 
not  carry  sorrow  to  others. 

"Reactionary  autocracy,"  says  Samuel  Gompers,  "cannot  perma- 
nently stay  progress.  The  peoples  of  Europe  will  emerge  from  the 
carnage  and  smoke  of  battle  with  renewed  determination  to  establish 
principles  and  institutions  that  are  in  harmony  with  industrial,  social, 
and  political  development.  This  war  will  constitute  a  more  urgent 
reason  to  destroy  monarchical  institutions,  autocratic  power,  and  to 


EFFECT    OF    WAR    ON    WESTERN   WORLD  401 

banish  militarism — a  reason  forced  upon  the  consciousness  of  all  by 
maimed  and  dead  bodies  of  fathers  and  sons,  husbands  and  brothers, 
by  the  starved  under-development  of  women  and  children,  and  by 
terrible  desolation  brooding  over  the  continent  like  an  evil  spirit." 

In  such  a  conflict,  in  such  a  time  of  stress,  America  indeed  may  be 
neutral,  may  be  outside  the  field  of  expressed  participation,  but 
Americans  are  not.  There  are  few  men  who  will  feel  the  pinch  of 
the  impending  adversity  as  keenly  as  they  feel  the  haunting  burden 
of  the  death-tool  on  the  battle-fields  of  Europe,  few  men  who  will  re- 
joice more  in  the  prosperity  that  will  so  soon  follow,  as  they  will 
rejoice  that  peace  has  come  again  upon  the  earth.  There  is  no 
American  who  will  wish  to  batten  upon  the  spoils  of  the  dreadful 
feast.  In  no  country  in  the  world  will  the  thankfulness  be  greater 
when  the  sword  is  again  beaten  into  the  plowshare  than  in  these 
Linited  States,  whose  population  is  formed  largely  of  elements  that 
elsewhere  are  in  discord,  and  who  have  found  worthy  work  and  noble 
peace  in  a  land  of  democratic  institutions. 


Copyright,  1912,  by  Pack  Bros. 
WOODROW    WILSON 

The  Good  Will  of  the  United  States  Has  Been  Eagerly  Sought  by  All  the  Powers  Now  at  War. 

President  Wilson   Has  Handled   Delicate  Questions  Involving  the  Neutrality  of  the 

United  States  with  Great  Firmness  and  Skill,  and  His  Official   Utterances 

Have  Been  Notable  for  the  Elegance  of  Their  Literary  Form 

402 


CHAPTER   XIII 


STATE  PAPERS  AND  OFFICIAL  CORRESPONDENCE 


In  the  following  pages  the  reader  will  find  the  full  text  of  a  num- 
ber of  important  state  papers  bearing  upon  the  war — ultimatums, 
declarations  of  war,  manifestos,  and  messages  exchanged  by  eminent 
personages.  Because  of  their  solemn  import,  these  documents  pos- 
sess a  profound  interest;  and  they  will  form  an  historical  record  of 
great  value. 


Ultimatum  Sent  by  AustriarHungaxy 
to  Servia,  July  23,  1914 

On  March  31,  1909,  the  Royal  Servian  Min- 
ister in  Vienna  on  the  instructions  of  the 
Servian  Government,  made  the  following 
statements  to  the  Imperial  and  Royal  Gov- 
ernment : 

"Servia  recognizes  that  the  fait  accompli 
regarding  Bosnia  has  not  affected  her  rights, 
and  consequently  she  will  conform  to  the  de- 
cisions that  the  Powers  will  take  in  con- 
formity with  Article  XXV  of  the  Treaty  of 
Berlin.  At  the  same  time  that  Servia  sub- 
mits to  the  advice  of  the  Powers  she  under- 
talies  to  renounce  the  attitude  of  protest  and 
opposition  which  she  has  adopted  since  Octo- 
ber last.  She  undertakes  on  the  other  hand 
to  modify  the  direction  of  her  policy  with 
regard  to  Austria-Hungary  and  to  live  in 
future  on  good  neighborly  terms  with  the 
latter." 

The  history  of  recent  years,  and  in  par- 
ticular the  painful  events  of  June  27  last, 
have  shown  the  existence  in  Servia  of  a  sub- 
versive movement  with  the  object  of  detach- 
ing a  part  of  Austria-Hungary  from  the 
monarchy.  The  movement,  which  had  its 
birth  under  the  eyes  of  the  Servian  Govern- 
ment, has  had  consequences  on  both  sides  of 
the  Servian  frontier  in  the  shape  of  acts  of 
terrorism  and  a  series  of  outrages  and 
murders. 

Far  from  carrying  but  the  formal  under- 
takings contained  in  the  declaration  of  March 
31,  1909,  the  Royal  Servian  Government  has 
done  nothing  to  repress  these  movements. 
It  has  permitted  the  criminal  machinations 
of  various  societies  and  associations,  and  has 
tolerated  unrestrained  language  on  the  part 

403 


of  the  press,  apologies  for  the  perpetrators 
of  outrages,  and  participation  of  officers  and 
functionaries  in  subversive  agitation.  It  has 
permitted  an  unwholesome  propaganda  in 
public  Instruction.  In  short,  it  has  permitted 
all  the  manifestations  which  have  incited  the 
Servian  population  to  hatred  of  the  mon- 
archy and  contempt  of  its  institutions. 

This  culpable  tolerance  of  the  Royal  Ser- 
vian Government  had  ceased  at  the  moment 
when  the  events  of  June  28  last  proved  its 
fatal  consequence  to  the  whole  world. 

It  results  from  the  disposition  and  con- 
fessions of  the  outrage  of  June  28  that  the 
Sarajevo  assassinations  were  hatched  in  Bel- 
grade, that  the  arms  and  explosives  with 
which  the  murderers  were  provided  had  been 
given  to  them  by  Servian  officers  and  func- 
tionaries belonging  to  the  Narodna  Obrava, 
and,  finally,  that  the  passage  into  Bosnia  of 
the  criminals  and  their  arms  was  organized 
and  effected  by  the  chiefs  of  the  Servian 
frontier  service. 

The  above-mentioned  results  of  the  magis- 
terial investigation  do  not  permit  the  Aus- 
tro-Hungarian  Government  to  pursue  any 
longer  the  attitude  of  expectant  forbearance 
which  it  has  maintained  for  years  in  face 
of  the  machinations  hatched  in  Belgrade  and 
thence  propagated  in  the  territories  of  the 
monarchy.  These  results,  on  the  contrary, 
impose  on  it  the  duty  of  putting  an  end  to 
intrigues  which  form  a  perpetual  menace  to 
the  tranquillity  of  the  monarchy. 

To  achieve  this  end,  the  Imperial  and 
Royal  Government  sees  itself  compelled  to 
demand  from  the  Servian  Government  a  for- 
mal assurance  that  it  condemns  this  danger- 
ous propaganda  against  the  monarchy  and 
the  territories  belonging  to  it,  and  that  the 


404 


STATE    PAPERS 


Royal  Servian  Government  shall  no  longer 
permit  these  machinations  and  this  criminal 
and  perverse  propaganda. 

In  order  to  give  a  formal  character  to  this 
undertaking  the  Royal  Servian  Government 
shall  publish  on  the  front  page  of  its  official 
journal  for  July  26  the  following  declara- 
tion: 

"The  Royal  Government  of  Servia  con- 
demns the  propaganda  directed  against  Aus- 
tria-Hungary, i.  e.,  the  ensemble  of  tendencies 
of  which  the  final  aim  is  to  detach  from  the 
Austro-Hungarian  Monarchy  territories  be- 
longing to  it,  and  it  sincerely  deplores  the 
fatal  consequences  of  these  criminal  proceed- 
ings. 

"The  Royal  Government  regrets  that  Ser- 
vian officers  and  functionaries  participated  in 
the  above-mentioned  propaganda  and  thus 
compromised  the  good,  neighborly  relations 
to  which  the  Royal  Government  was  solemnly 
pledged  by  its  declaration  of  March  31,  1909. 
The  Royal  Government,  which  disapproves 
and  repudiates  all  idea  of  interfering  or  at- 
tempt to  interfere  with  the  destinies  of  the 
inhabitants  of  any  part  whatsoever  of  Aus- 
tria-Hungary, considers  it  its  duty  formally 
to  warn  officers  and  functionaries,  and  the 
whole  population  of  the  kingdom,  that  hence- 
forth it  will  proceed  with  the  utmost  rigor 
against  persons  who  may  be  guilty  of  such 
machinations,  which  it  will  use  all  its  efforts 
to  anticipate  and  suppress." 

This  declaration  shall  simultaneously  be 
communicated  to  the  Royal  Army  as  an  order 
of  the  day  by  His  Majesty  the  King,  and 
shall  be  published  in  the  official  bulletin  of 
the  army. 

The  Royal  Servian  Government  further  un- 
dertakes : 

1.  To  suppress  any  publications  which  in- 
cite to  hatred  and  contempt  of  the  Austro- 
Hungarian  Monarchy  and  the  general  ten- 
dency of  which  is  directed  against  its  terri- 
torial integrity. 

2..  To  dissolve  immediately  the  society 
styled  Narodna  Obrana,  to  confiscate  all  its 
means  of  propaganda  and  to  proceed  in  the 
same  manner  against  other  societies  and  their 
branches  in  Servia  which  are  addicted  to 
propaganda  against  the  Austro-Hungarian 
Monarchy.    The  Royal  Government  shall  take 


the  necessary  measures  to  prevent  the  so- 
cieties dissolved  from  continuing  their  activ- 
ity under  another  name  and  form. 

3.  To  eliminate  without  delay  from  public 
instruction  in  Servia,  not  only  as  regards  the 
teaching  body,  but  also  as  regards  the  meth- 
ods of  instruction,  everything  that  serves 
or  might  serve  to  foment  the  propaganda 
against  Austria-Hungary. 

4.  To  remove  from  military  service  and 
from  the  Administration  in  general  all  offi- 
cers and  functionaries  guilty  of  propaganda 
against  the  Austro-Hungarian  Monarchy, 
whose  names  and  deeds  the  Austro-Hun- 
garian Government  reserves  to  itself  the  right 
of  communicating  to  the  Royal  Government. 

5.  To  accept  the  collaboration  in  Servia  of 
representatives  of  the  Austro-Hungarian 
Government  in  the  suppression  of  the  subver- 
sive movement  directed  against  the  territorial 
integrity  of  the  monarchy. 

6.  To  take  judicial  proceedings  against  ac- 
cessories to  the  plot  of  June  28  who  are  on 
Servian  territory.  Delegates  of  the  Austro- 
Hungarian  Government  will  take  part  in  the 
investigation  relating  thereto. 

7.  To  proceed  without  delay  to  the  arrest 
of  Major  Voija  Tankositch  and  of  the  in- 
dividual named  Milan  Ciganovitch,  a  Servian 
State  employee,  who  have  been  compromised 
by  the  results  of  the  magisterial  inquiry  at 
Sarajevo. 

8.  To  prevent  by  effective  measures  the  co- 
operation of  the  Servian  authorities  in  the 
illicit  traffic  in  arms  and  explosives  across 
the  frontier,  to  dismiss  and  punish  severely 
officials  of  the  frontier  service  at  Achabatz 
and  Loznica  guilty  of  having  assisted  the 
perpetrators  of  the  Sarajevo  crime  by  facili- 
tating the  passage  of  the  frontier  for  them. 

9.  To  furnish  the  Austro-Hungarian  Gov- 
ernment with  explanations  regarding  the  un- 
justifiable utterances  of  high  Servian  officials 
both  in  Servia  and  abroad,  who,  notwith- 
standing their  official,  position,  did  not  hesi- 
tate after  the  crime  of  June  28  to  express 
themselves  in  interviews  in  terms  of  hostility 
to  the  Austro-Hungarian  Government;  and 
finally, 

10.  To  notify  the  Austro-Hungarian  Gov- 
ernment without  delay  of  the  execution  of 


STATE    PAPERS 


405 


the  measures  comprised  under  the  proceeding 
heads. 

The  Austro-Hungarian  Government  ex- 
pects the  reply  of  the  Servian  Government  at 
the  latest  by  6  o'clock  on  Saturday  evening, 
the  25th  of  July. 

Circular  Note  to  the  Powers  Issued 
by  the  Austro-Hungarian  Foreign 
Office,  July  24,  1914 

The  Imperial  and  Royal  Government  has 
felt  itself  compelled  to  forward  on  Thurs- 
day the  23d  inst.,  to  the  Royal  Servian  Gov- 
ernment through  its  Imperial  and  Royal  Min- 
ister in  Belgrade  the  following  note: 

[The  Austro-Hungarian  ultimatum  to  Ser- 
via  was  here  inserted.] 

I  have  the  honor  to  request  your  Excel- 
lency to  bring  the  contents  of  this  note  be- 
fore the  Government  to  which  you  are  ac- 
credited, and  to  accompany  this  with  the 
following  explanations:  On  the  31st  March, 
1909,  the  Royal  Servian  Government  ad- 
dressed a  statement  to  Austria-Hungary,  the 
text  of  which  is  repeated  above.  Almost  on 
the  following  day  Servia's  policy  took  a 
direction  tending  to  rouse  ideas  subversive 
to  the  Austro-Hungarian  monarchy  in  the 
minds  of  Servian  subjects,  and  thereby  to 
prepare  for  the  detachment  of  those  districts 
of  Austria-Hungary  which  adjoin  the  Ser- 
vian frontier. 

A  large  number  of  agents  are  employed 
in  furthering  by  all  possible  means  the  agi- 
tation against  Austria-Hungary  to  corrupt 
the  youth  of  those  territories  of  Austria- 
Hungary  bordering  on  Servia.  The  spirit  of 
conspiracy  which  animates  Servian  political 
circles  and  which  has  left  its  bloody  traces 
in  the  history  of  Servia  has  grown  since  the 
last  Balkan  crisis.  Members  of  bands  who 
up  to  the  time  had  found  occupation  in 
Macedonia  have  since  placed  themselves  at 
the  disposal  of  the  terrorist  propaganda 
against  Austria-Hungary.  The  Servian  Gov- 
ernment has  never  considered  itself  obliged 
to  take  steps  of  any  kind  against  the  in- 
trigues to  which  Austria-Hungary  has  been 
exposed  for  years. 

The  patience  which  the  Imperial  and  Royal 


Government  has  observed  toward  the  provoca- 
tive attitude  of  Servia  is  to  be  attributed  to 
the  fact  that  she  knew  herself  to  be  free  from 
all  territorial  interests  and  to  the  hope  which 
she  did  not  abandon  that  the  Servian  Gov- 
ernment would  eventually  prize  at  its  worth 
the  friendship  of  Austria-Hungary.  The  Im- 
perial and  Royal  Government  thought  that 
a  benevolent  attitude  toward  the  political  in- 
terests of  Servia  would  eventually  call  for  a 
similar  attitude  from  that  kingdom. 

Austria-Hungary  expected  an  evolution  of 
this  nature  in  the  political  ideas  of  Servia 
more  especially  at  the  time  following  the 
events  of  the  year  1912,  when  the  Imperial 
and  Royal  Government,  by  its  disinterested 
attitude  from  any  suggestion  of  ill-will  made 
possible  the  important  extension  of  Servia. 

The  sympathy  which  Austria-Hungary 
demonstrated  in  its  neighbor  nevertheless 
made  no  change  in  the  conduct  of  that  king- 
dom, which  continued  to  permit  on  its  terri- 
tory a  propaganda,  the  lamentable  conse- 
quences of  which  were  made  evident  to  the 
whole  world  on  June  28  this  year,  when  the 
heir  apparent  of  the  dual  monarchy  and  his 
illustrious  consort  fell  the  victims  to  a  plot 
hatched  in  Belgrade. 

In  view  of  this  state  of  affairs  the  Imper- 
ial and  Royal  Government  found  itself  com- 
pelled to  take  a  fresh  and  energetic  step  in 
Belgrade,  of  such  a  nature  as  to  induce  the 
Servian  Government  to  put  an  end  to  a 
movement  which  threatened  the  security  and 
integrity  of  Austria-Hungary.  The  Imperial 
and  Royal  Government  is  convinced  that  in 
taking  this  step  it  is  acting  in  complete  har- 
mony with  the  feelings  of  all  civilized  na- 
tions, which  cannot  agree  that  royal  assassina- 
tions can  be  made  a  weapon  to  be  used  un- 
punished in  political  struggles,  and  that  the 
peace  of  Europe  may  be  incessantly  disturbed 
by  intrigues  which  emanate   from   Belgrade. 

In  support  of  these  statements,  the  Im- 
perial and  Royal  Government  holds  at  the 
disposal  of  the  Government  to  which  you  are 
accredited  a  dossier  dealing  with  the  Servian 
propaganda,  and  showing  the  connection  of 
this  propaganda  with  the  assassination  of 
June  28. 


406 


STATE    PAPERS 


The  Reply  of  Servia  to  the  Austro- 
Hungarian  Ultimatum,  July  25, 
1914 

The  Royal  Servian  Government  received 
the  communication  of  the  Imperial  and  Royal 
Austro-Hungarian  Government  of  the  23d  of 
this  month,  and  it  is  persuaded  that  its  reply 
will  remove  all  misunderstanding  tending  to 
threaten  or  to  prejudice  the  friendly  and 
neighborly  relations  between  the  Austro-Hun- 
garian Monarchy  and  the  Kingdom  of  Servia. 

The  Royal  Government  is  aware  that  the 
protests  made  both  at  the  tribune  of  the 
National  Skupshtina  and  in  the  declarations 
and  the  acts  of  the  State — protests  which 
were  cut  short  by  the  declaration  of  the 
Servian  Government  made  on  March  18 — 
have  not  been  renewed  toward  the  great 
neighboring  monarchy  on  any  occasion,  and 
that  since  this  time,  both  on  the  part  of  the 
Royal  Governments  which  have  followed  on 
one  another,  and  on  the  part  of  their  organs, 
no  attempt  has  been  made  with  the  purpose 
of  changing  the  political  and  judicial  state 
of  things  in  this  respect. 

The  Imperial  and  Royal  Government  has 
made  no  representations  save  concerning  a 
scholastic  book  regarding  which  the  Imperial 
and  Royal  Government  has  received  an  en- 
tirely satisfactory  explanation.  Servia  has 
repeatedly  given  proofs  of  her  pacific  and 
moderate  policy  during  the  Balkan  crises, 
and  it  is  thanks  to  Servia  and  the  interest 
of  the  peace  of  Europe  that  this  peace  has' 
been  preserved.  The  Royal  Government  can- 
not be  held  responsible  for  manifestations  of 
a  private  nature,  such  as  newspaper  articles 
and  the  peaceful  work  of  societies — manifes- 
tations which  occur  in  almost  all  countries 
as  a  matter  of  course,  and  which,  as  a  gen- 
eral rule,  escape  oflBcial  control — all  the  less 
in  that  the  Royal  Government,  when  solving 
a  whole  series  of  questions  which  came  up 
between  Servia  and  Austria-Hungary,  has 
displayed  a  great  readiness  to  treat,  and  in 
this  way  succeeded  in  settling  the  greater 
number  to  the  advantage  of  the  progress  of 
the   two   neighboring   countries. 

It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  Royal  Gov- 
ernment has  been  painfully  surprised  by  the 
statements,  according  to  which  persons  of  the 


kingdom  of  Servia  are  said  to  have  taken 
part  in  the  perpetration  of  the  outrage  com- 
mitted at  Sarajevo.  It  is  expected  that  it 
would  be  invited  to  collaborate  in  the  investi- 
gation of  everything  bearing  on  this  crime, 
and  it  was  ready  to  prove  by  its  actions  its 
entire  readiness  to  take  steps  against  all  per- 
sons with  regard  to  whom  communications 
had  been  made  to  it,  thus  acquiescing  in  the 
desire  of  the  Imperial  and  Royal  Govern- 
ment. 

The  Royal  Government  is  disposed  to  hand 
over  to  the  courts  any  Servian  subject,  with- 
out regard  to  his  situation  and  rank,  for 
whose  complicity  in  crime  of  Sarajevo  it  shall 
have  been  furnished  with  proofs,  and  espe- 
cially it  engages  itself  to  have  published  on 
the  front  page  of  the  Official  Journal  of  July 
13-;36  the  foUdwing  announcement: 

"The  Royal  Servian  Government  condemns 
all  propaganda  directed  against  Austria- 
Hungary,  that  is  to  say,  all  tendencies  as  a 
whole  of  which  the  ultimate  object  is  to  de- 
tach from  the  Austro-Hungarian  monarchy 
territories  which  form  a  part  of  it,  and  it 
sincerely  deplores  the  fatal  consequences  of 
these  criminal  actions.  The  Royal  Govern- 
ment regrets  that  Servian  officials  should, 
according  to  the  communication  of  the  Im- 
perial and  Royal  Government,  have  par- 
ticipated in  the  above-mentioned  propaganda, 
thereby  comprising  the  good  neighborly  re- 
lations to  which  the  Royal  Government  sol- 
emnly pledged  itself  by  its  declaration  of 
the  31st  March,  1909.  The  Government 
which  disapproves  and  repudiates  any  idea 
or  attempt  to  interfere  in  the  destinies  of 
the  inhabitants  of  any  part  of  Austria-Hun- 
gary whatsoever,  considers  it  its  duty  to  utter 
a  formal  warning  to  the  officers,  the  officials, 
and  the  whole  population  of  that  kingdom 
that  henceforth  it  will  proceed  with  the  ut- 
most rigor  against  persons  who  render  them- 
selves guilt^y  of  such  actions,  which  it  will 
use  aU  its  eflForts  to  prevent  and  repress." 

This  announcement  shall  be  brought  to 
the  cognizance  of  the  Royal  Army  by  an 
order  of  the  day  issued  in  the  name  of  His 
Majesty  the  King  by  H.  R.  H.  the  Crown 
Prince  Alexander,  and  shall  be  published  in 
the  next  official  bulletin  of  the  arm)\ 

1.  The    Royal   Government   engages   itself. 


STATE    PAPERS 


407 


furthermore,  to  lay  before  the  next  regular 
meeting  of  the  Skupshtina  an  amendment 
of  the  press  law,  punishing  in  the  severest 
manner  incitements  to  hate  and  contempt  of 
the  Austro-Hungarian  Monarchy  and  also 
all  publications  of  which  the  general  ten- 
dency is  directed  against  the  territorial  in- 
tegrity of  the  monarchy.  It  undertakes  at 
the  forthcoming  revision  of  the  Constitution 
to  introduce  in  Article  XXII  of  the  Con- 
stitution an  amendment  whereby  the  above 
publications  may  be  confiscated,  which  is  at 
present  categorically  forbidden  by  the  terms 
of  Article  XXII  of  the  Constitution. 

2.  The  Government  does  not  possess  any 
proof,  nor  does  the  note  of  the  Imperial  and 
Royal  Government  furnish  such,  that  the 
society  Narodna  Obrana  and  other  similar 
societies  have  up  to  the  present  committed 
any  criminal  acts  of  this  kind  through  the 
instrumentality  of  one  of  their  members. 
Nevertheless,  the  Royal  Government  will  ac- 
cept the  demand  of  the  Imperial  and  Royal 
Government  and  will  dissolve  the  Narodna 
Obrana  Society  and  any  other  society  which 
shall  agitate  against  Austria-Hungary. 

3.  The  Royal  Servian  Government  engages 
itself  to  eliminate  without  delay  for  public 
instruction  in  Servia  everything  which  aids 
or  might  aid  in  fomenting  the  propaganda 
against  Austro-Hungary  when  the  Imperial 
and  Royal  Government  furnishes  facts  and 
proofs  of  this  propaganda. 

4.  The  Royal  Government  also  agrees  to 
remove  from  the  military  service  (all  per- 
sons) whom  the  judicial  inquiry  proves  to 
have  been  guilty  of  acts  directed  against  the 
integrity  of  the  territory  of  the  Austro-Hun- 
garian monarchy,  and  it  expects  the  Imperial 
and  Royal  Government  to  communicate  at  a 
later  date  the  names  and  the  deeds  of 
these  officers  and  officials,  for  the  purpose  of 
the  proceedings  which  will  have  to  be  taken. 

5.  The  Royal  Government  must  confess 
that  it  is  not  quite  clear  as  to  the  sense  and 
object  of  the  demands  of  the  Imperial  and 
Royal  Government  that  Servia  should  under- 
take to  accept  on  her  territory  the  collabora- 
tion of  delegates  of  the  Imperial  and  Royal 
Government,  but  it  declares  that  it  will  admit 
whatever  collaboration  which  may  be  in  ac- 
cord with  the  principles  of  international  law 


and  criminal  procedure,  as  well  as  with  good 
neighborly  relations. 

6.  The  Royal  Government,  as  goes  without 
saying,  considers  it  to  be  its  duty  to  open  an 
inquiry  against  all  those  who  are,  or  shall 
eventually  prove  to  have  been,  involved  in 
the  plot  of  June  28,  and  who  are  in  Servian 
territory.  As  to  the  participation  at  this  in- 
vestigation of  agents  of  the  Austro-Hun- 
garian authorities  delegated  for  this  purpose 
by  the  Imperial  and  Royal  Government,  the 
Royal  Government  cannot  accept  this  de- 
mand, for  it  would  be  a  violation  of  the  Con- 
stitution and  of  the  law  of  criminal  pro- 
cedure. Nevertheless,  in  concrete  cases  it 
might  be  found  possible  to  communicate  the 
results  of  the  investigation  in  question  to  the 
Austro-Hungarian   representatives. 

7.  On  the  very  evening  that  the  note  was 
handed  in  the  Royal  Government  arrested 
Major  Voija  Tankositch,  As  for  Milan 
Ciganovitch,  who  is  a  subject  of  the  Austro- 
Hungarian  monarchy,  and  who,  until  June 
15,  was  employed  as  a  beginner  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  railways,  it  has  not  yet 
been  possible  to  (arrest)  him.  In  view  of 
the  ultimate  inquiry  the  Imperial  and  Royal 
Government  is  requested  to  have  the  goodness 
to  communicate  in  the  usual  form  as  soon  as 
possible  the  presumptions  of  guilt  as  well  as 
the  eventual  proofs  of  guilt  against  these 
persons  which  have  been  collected  up  to  the 
present   in  the  investigations   at   Sarajevo. 

8.  The  Servian  Government  will  strengthen 
and  extend  the  measures  taken  to  prevent  the 
illicit  traffic  of  arms  and  explosives  across 
the  frontier.  It  goes  without  saying  that  it 
will  immediately  order  an  investigation,  and 
will  severely  punish  the  frontier  officials  along 
the  line  Schabatz-Losnitza  who  have  been 
lacking  in  their  duties  and  who  allowed  the 
authors  of  the  crime  of  Sarajevo  to  pass. 

9.  The  Royal  Government  will  willingly 
give  explanations  regarding  the  remarks 
made  in  interviews  by  its  officials,  both  in 
Servia  and  abroad,  after  the  attempt,  and 
which,  according  to  the  statement  of  the 
Imperial  and  Royal  Government,  were  hos- 
tile toward  the  monarchy,  as  soon  as  the  Im- 
perial and  Royal  Government  has  (forward- 
ed) it  the  passages  in  question  of  these  re- 
marks and  as  soon  as  it  has  shown  that  the 


408 


STATE    PAPERS 


remarks  made  were  in  reality  made  bj  the 
officials  regarding  whom  the  Royal  Govern- 
ment itself  will  see  about  collecting  proofs. 

10.  The  Royal  Government  will  inform  the 
Imperial  and  Royal  Government  of  the  exe- 
cution of  the  measures  comprised  in  the  pre- 
ceding points,  in  as  far  as  that  has  not 
already  been  done  by  the  present  note,  as 
soon  as  each  measure  has  been  ordered  and 
executed. 

In  the  event  of  the  Imperial  and  Royal 
Government  not  being  satisfied  with  this  re- 
ply, the  Royal  Servian  Government,  consider- 
ing that  it  is  to  the  common  interest  not  to 
precipitate  the  solution  of  this  question,  is 
ready,  as  always,  to  accept  a  pacific  under- 
standing, either  by  referring  this  question  to 
the  decision  of  The  Hague  International 
Tribunal  or  to  the  great  powers  which  took 
part  in  the  drawing  up  of  the  declaration 
made  by  the  Servian  Government  on  the 
18-31  March,  1909. 

Circular  Note  Issued  by  Austria-Hun- 
gary Denouncing  Servia's  Reply, 
July  26,  1914 

The  object  of  the  Servian  note  is  to  create 
the  false  impression  that  the  Servian  Gov- 
ernment is  prepared  in  great  measure  to 
comply  with  our  demands. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  Servia's  note 
is  filled  with  the  spirit  of  dishonesty,  which 
clearly  lets  it  be  seen  that  the  Servian  Gov- 
ernment is  not  seriously  determined  to  put 
an  end  to  the  culpable  tolerance  it  hitherto 
has  extended  to  intrigues  against  the  Austro- 
Hungarian  Monarchy. 

The  Servian  note  contains  such  far-reach- 
ing reservations  and  limitations  not  only  re- 
garding the  general  principles  of  our  action, 
but  also  in  regard  to  the  individual  claims 
we  have  put  forward  that  the  concessions 
actually  made  by  Servia  become  insignificant. 

In  particular  our  demand  for  the  partici- 
pation of  the  Austro-Hungarian  authorities 
in  the  conspiracy  on  Servian  territory  has 
been  rejected,  while  our  request  that  meas- 
ures be  taken  against  that  section  of  the 
Servian  press  hostile  to  Austro-Hungary  has 
been  declined,  and  our  wish  that  the  Servian 
Government  take  the  necessary  measures  to 


present  the  dissolved  Austro-phobe  associa- 
tions continuing  their  activity  under  another 
name  and  under  another  form  has  not  even 
been  considered. 

Since  the  claims  in  the  Austro-Hungarian 
note  of  July  23,  regard  being  had  to  the 
attitude  hitherto  adopted  by  Servia,  repre- 
sent the  minimum  of  what  is  necessary  for 
the  establishment  of  permanent  peace  with 
the  Southeastern  monarchy,  the  Servian  an- 
swer must  be   regarded   as  unsatisfactory. 

That  the  Servian  Government  itself  is  con- 
scious that  its  note  is  not  acceptable  to  us 
is  proved  by  the  circumstance  that  it  pro- 
poses at  the  end  of  the  note  to  submit  the 
dispute  to  arbitration — an  invitation  which  is 
thrown  into  its  proper  light  by  the  fact  that 
three  hours  before  handing  in  the  note,  a 
few  minutes  before  the  expiration  of  the 
time  limit,  the  mobilization  of  the  Servian 
Army  took  place. 

Austria-Hungary's      Declaration     of 
War  Against  Servia,  July  28,  1914 

The  Royal  Government  of  Servia  not  hav- 
ing replied  in  a  satisfactory  manner  to  the 
note  remitted  to  it  by  the  Austro-Hungarian 
Minister  in  Belgrade  on  July  23,  1914,  the 
Imperial  and  Royal  Government  finds  itself 
compelled  to  proceed  to  safeguard  its  rights 
and  interests  and  to  have  recourse  for  this 
purpose  to  force  of  arms. 

Austria-Hungary  considers  itself,  there- 
fore, from  this  moment  in  a  state  of  war 
with  Servia. 

Note  of  the  Russian  Foreign  Office, 
July  28,  1914 

Numerous  patriotic  demonstrations  of  the 
last  few  days  in  St.  Petersburg  and  other 
cities  prove  that  the  firm  pacific  policy  of 
Russia  finds  a  sympathetic  echo  among  all 
classes  of  the  population. 

The  Government  hopes,  nevertheless,  that 
the  expression  of  feeling  of  the  people  will 
not  be  tinged  with  enmity  against  the  powers 
with  whom  Russia  is  at  peace,  and  with  whom 
she  wishes  to  remain  at  peace. 

While  the  Government  gathers  strength 
from  this  wave  of  popular  feeling  and  ex- 


STATE    PAPERS 


409 


pects  its  subjects  to  retain  their  reticence  and 
tranquillity,  it  rests  confidently  on  the  guar- 
dianship of  the  dignity  and  the  interests  of 
Russia. 

The    Czar's    Personal    Note    to    the 
Kaiser,  July  31,  1914 

I  thank  thee  from  my  heart  for  thy  media- 
tion, which  leaves  a  gleam  of  hope  that  even 
now  all  may  end  peacefully.  It  is  technically 
impossible  to  discontinue  our  military  opera- 
tion, which  has  been  rendered  necessary  by 
Austrian  mobilization.  We  are  far  from 
wishing  for  war,  and  so  long  as  negotiations 
with  Austria  regarding  Servia  continue  my 
troops  will  not  undertake  any  provocative 
action. 

I  give  thee  my  word  upon  it,  and  I  trust 
with  my  strength  in  God's  grace  and  hope 
for  the  success  of  thy  mediation  at  Vienna, 
and  for  our  countries'  peace  and  the  peace 
of  Europe. 

The  Kaiser's  Reply  to  the  Czar's  Note, 
July  31,  1914 

In  answer  to  thy  appeal  to  my  friendship 
and  thy  prayer  for  my  help,  I  undertook 
mediatory  action  between  the  Austro-Hun- 
garian  Government  and  thine.  While  this 
action  was  in  progress  thy  troops  were  mo- 
bilized against  my  ally,  Austria-Hungary, 
in  consequence  of  which",  as  I  have  already 
informed  thee,  my  mediation  was  rendered 
nearly  illusory.  Nevertheless,  it  continued. 
But  now  I  am  in  possession  of  trustworthy 
advices  concerning  the  serious  war  prepara- 
tions on  my  eastern  frontier  as  well. 

My  responsibility  for  the  safety  of  my 
empire  compels  me  to  counter-measures  of 
defense.  In  my  endeavors  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  peace  of  the  world  I  have  gone 
to  the  extreme  limit  of  the  possible.  It  is 
not  I  that  shall  bear  the  responsibility  for 
the  peril  which  now  threatens  the  civilized 
world.  I  lay  it  to  thy  hand  to  avert  it,  even 
at  this  moment. 

No  one  menaces  the  honor  and  might  of 
Russia,  which  well  could  have  waited  upon 
the  result  of  my  mediation.  The  friendship 
for  thee  and  thy  empire  bequeathed  to  me 


by  my  grandfather  on  his  deathbed  has  al- 
ways been  sacred  to  me,  and  I  have  re- 
mained true  to  Russia  when  it  was  in  grave 
distress,  especially  in  your  last  war.  The' 
peace  of  Europe  can  yet  be  conserved  by 
thee  if  Russia  decides  to  discontinue  her 
military  measures  which  threaten  Germany 
and  Austria-Hungary. 

King  George's  Personal  Appeal  to  the 
Czar,  August  1,  1914 

"I  cannot  help  thinking  that  some  mis- 
understanding has  produced  this  deadlock.  I 
am  most  anxious  not  to  miss  any  possibility 
of  avoiding  the  terrible  calamity  which  at 
present  threatens  the  whole  world.  I  there- 
fore make  a  personal  apppeal  to  you  to  re- 
move the  misapprehension  which  I  feel  must 
have  occurred,  and  to  leave  still  open  grounds 
for  negotiation  and  possible  peace. 

"If  you  think  I  can  in  any  way  contribute 
to  that  all-important  purpose,  I  will  do  every- 
thing in  my  power  to  assist  in  reopening  the 
interrupted  conversations  between  the  powers 
concerned.  I  feel  confident  that  you  are  as 
anxious  as  I  am  that  all  that  is  possible 
should  be  done  to  secure  the  peace  of  the 
world." 

The  Czar's  Reply  to  King  George's 
Appeal,  August  1,  1914 

"I  would  gladly  have  accepted  your  pro- 
posals had  not  the  German  Ambassador  this 
afternoon  presented  a  note  to  my  Govern- 
ment declaring  war.  Ever  since  the  presenta- 
tion of  the  ultimatum  at  Belgrade,  Russia 
has  devoted  all  her  efforts  to  finding  some 
pacific  solution  of  the  question  raised  by 
Austria's  action.  The  object  of  that  action 
was  to  crush  Servia  and  make  her  a  vassal 
of  Austria.  The  effect  of  this  would  have 
been  to  upset  the  balance  of  power  in  the 
Balkans,  which  is  of  such  vital  interest  to 
my  empire. 

"Every  proposal,  including  that  of  your 
Government,  was  rejected  by  Germany  and 
Austria,  and  it  was  only  when  the  favorable 
moment  for  bringing  pressure  to  bear  on 
Austria  had  passed  that  Germany  showed  any 
disposition  to  mediate.     Even  then  she  did 


410 


STATE    PAPERS 


not  put  forward  any  precise  proposal.  Aus- 
tria's declaration  of  war  on  Servia  forced 
me  to  order  a  partial  mobilization,  though, 
in  view  of  the  threatening  situation,  my  mili- 
tary advisers  strongly  advised  a  general  mob- 
ilization owing  to  the  quickness  with  which 
Germany  can  mobilize  in  comparison  with 
Russia. 

"I  was  eventually  compelled  to  take  this 
course  in  consequence  of  complete  Austrian 
mobilization,  of  the  bombardment  of  Bel- 
grade, of  concentration  of  Austrian  troops 
in  Galicia,  and  of  secret  military  prepara- 
tions being  made  in  Germany.  That  I  was 
justified  in  doing  so  is  proved  by  Germany's 
sudden  declaration  of  war,  which  was  quite 
unexpected  by  me,  as  I  had  given  most  cate- 
gorical assurances  to  the  Emperor  William 
that  my  troops  would  not  move  so  long  as 
mediation  negotiations   continued. 

"In  this  solemn  hour  I  wish  to  assure  you 
once  more  that  I  have  done  all  in  my  power 
to  avert  war.  Now  that  it  has  been  forced 
on  me,  I  trust  your  country  will  not  fail 
to  support  France  and  Russia.  God  bless 
and  protect  you." 

Proclamation  of.  President  Poincare 
Following  the  Decree  of  French 
Mobilization,  August  1,  1914 

"For  some  days  the  States  of  Europe  have 
been  considerably  aggravated,  and,  notwith- 
standing the  eflForts  of  diplomacy,  the  horizon 
has  darkened.  At  the  present  hour  a  greater 
part  of  the  nations  have  mobilized  their 
forces.  Even  the  countries  protected  by  neu- 
trality conventions  have  deemed  it  their  duty 
to  take  this  measure  as  a  precaution. 

"The  powers  whose  constitutional  or  mili- 
tary legislation  differs  from  ours  have,  with- 
out issuing  a  decree  of  mobilization,  begun 
and  carried  on  preparations  which,  in  reality, 
are  equivalent  to  mobilization,  and  are  but 
the  anticipated  execution  of  it. 

"France,  who  always  has  affirmed  her  de- 
sire for  peace,  who  on  many  a  tragic  day 
has  given  to  Europe  counsels  of  moderation 
and  a  living  example  of  decorum,  and  who 
has  multiplied  her  efforts  to  maintain  the 
peace  of  the  world,  has  now  prepared  her- 
self for  all  eventualities,  and  has  taken  her 


first  indispensable  dispositions  for  the  safe- 
guarding of  her  territory. 

"But  our  legislation  does  not  permit  the 
completion  of  these  preparations  without  a 
decree  of  mobilization.  Conscious  of  its  high 
responsibility,  and  feeling  that  it  would  fail 
in  its  sacred  duty  if  it  did  not  take  this 
measure,  the  Government  has  signed  the  de- 
cree. 

"Mobilization  is  not  war.  Under  the  pres- 
ent circumstances  it  would  appear,  on  the 
contrary,  to  be  the  best  means  of  assuring 
peace  with  honor. 

"Strong  in  its  ardent  desire  of  arriving 
at  a  peaceful  solution  of  this  crisis,  the 
Government  under  cover  of  these  essential 
precautions  will  continue  its  diplomatic  ef- 
forts, and  still  hopes  to  succeed.  It  counts 
upon  the  coolness  of  the  people  not  to  give 
up  to  unjustified  emotion.  It  counts  upon 
the  patriotism  of  every  Frenchman,  and  it 
knows  that  there  is  not  a  single  one  who 
is  not  ready  to  do  his  duty  at  this  hour. 

"There  are  no  longer  any  parties.  There 
is  an  eternal  France — a  France  peaceful  and 
resolute.  There  is  a  fatherland  of  peace 
and  justice,  all  united  in  calm  vigilance  and 
dignity." 

Manifesto  of  the  Czar  to  the  Russian 
People  upon  Germany's  Declara- 
tion of  War,  August  3,  1914 

"By  the  grace  of  God,  we,  Nicholas  II, 
Emperor  and  Autocrat  of  all  the  Russias, 
King  of  Poland,  and  Grand  Duke  of  Finland, 
&c.,  to  all  our  faithful  subjects  make  known 
that  Russia,  related  by  faith  and  blood  to 
the  Slav  peoples  and  faithful  to  her  histori- 
cal traditions,  has  never  regarded  their  fates 
with  indifference. 

"But  the  fraternal  sentiments  of  the  Rus- 
sian people  for  the  Slavs  have  been  awak- 
ened with  perfect  unanimity  and  extraordi- 
nary force  in  these  last  few  days,  when 
Austria-Hungary  knowingly  addressed  to 
Servia  claims  inacceptable  for  an  indepen- 
dent State. 

"Having  paid  no  attention  to  the  pacific 
and  conciliatory  »eply  of  the  Servian  Gov- 
ernment, and  ha^  ing  rejected  the  benevolent 
intervention     of     Russia,     Austria-Himgary 


STATE    PAPERS 


411 


made  haste  to  proceed  to  an  armed  attack, 
and  began  to  bombard  Belgrade,  an  open 
place. 

"Forced  by  the  situation  thus  created  to 
take  necessary  measures  of  precaution,  we 
ordered  the  army  and  the  navy  put  on  a 
war  footing,  at  the  same  time  using  every 
endeavor  to  obtain  a  peaceful  solution.  Pour- 
parlers were  begun  amid  friendly  relations 
with  Germany  and  her  ally,  Austria,  for  the 
blood  and  the  property  9f  her  subjects  were 
dear  to  us. 

"Contrary  to  our  hopes  in  our  good  neigh- 
borly relations  of  long  date,  and  disregard- 
ing our  assurances  that  the  mobilization 
measures  taken  were  in  pursuance  of  no  ob- 
ject hostile  to  her,  Germany  demanded  their 
immediate  cessation.  Being  rebuffed  in  this 
demand,  Germany  suddenly  declared  war  on 
Russia. 

"Now  it  is  not  only  protection  of  a  coun- 
try related  to  us  and  unjustly  attacked 
that  must  be  accorded,  but  we  must  safe- 
guard the  honor,  the  dignity,  and  the  integ- 
rity of  Russia  and  her  position  among  the 
great  powers. 

"We  believe  unshakably  that  all  our  faith- 
ful subjects  will  rise  with  unanimity  and 
devotion  for  the  defense  of  Russian  soil;  that 
internal  discord  will  be  forgotten  in  this 
threatening  hour;  that  the  unity  of  the  Em- 
peror with  his  people  will  become  still  more 
close,  and  that  Russia,  rising  like  one  man, 
will  repulse  the  insolent  attack  of  the 
enemy. 

"With  a  profound  faith  in  the  justice  of 
our  work,  and  with  a  humble  hope  in  om- 
nipotent Providence  in  prayer,  we  call  God's 
blessing  on  holy  Russia  and  her  valiant 
troops. 

"Nicholas." 

Personal  Message  from  King  Albert  of 
Belgium  to  King  George,  August  2, 
1914 

"Remembering  the  numerous  proofs  of 
your  Majesty's  friendship  and  that  of  your 
predecessor,  of  the  friendly  attitude  of  Eng- 
land in  1870,  and  the  proof  of  the  friendship 


which  she  has  just  given  us  again,  I  make 
a  supreme  appeal  to  the  diplomatic  interven- 
tion of  your  Majesty's  Government  to  safe- 
guard the  integrity  of  Belgium. 

"Albert." 

Telegram  from  Sir  Edward  Grey  to 
British  Ambassador  Instructing 
Him  to  Deliver  an  Ultimatum  to 
Germany,  August  4,  1914 

"We  hear  that  Germany  has  addressed  note 
to  Belgian  Minister  for  Foreign  AflFairs 
stating  that  German  Government  will  be 
compelled  to  carry  out,  if  necessary  by  force 
of  arms,  the  measures  considered  indispen- 
sable. 

"We  are  also  informed  that  Belgian  ter- 
ritory has  been  violated  at  Gemmenich. 

"In  these  circumstances,  and  in  view  of 
the  fact  that  Germany  declined  to  give  the 
same  assurance  respecting  Belgium  as  France 
gave  last  week  in  reply  to  our  request  made 
simultaneously  at  Berlin  and  Paris,  we  must 
repeat  that  request,  and  ask  that  a  satisfac- 
tory reply  to  it  and  to  my  telegram  of  this 
morning  be  received  here  by  12  o'clock  to- 
night. If  not,  you  are  instructed  to  ask 
for  your  passports,  and  to  say  that  His 
Majesty's  Government  feel  bound  to  take  all 
steps  in  their  power  to  uphold  the  neutrality 
of  Belgium  and  the  observance  of  a  treaty 
to  which  Germany  is  as  much  a  party  as 
ourselves. 

"Edward  Ghey." 

Statement  of  the  British  Foreign  Of- 
fice after  the  Proclamation  of  War 
on  Germany,  August  4,  1914 

"Owing  to  the  summary  rejection  by  the 
German  Government  of  the  request  made  by 
His  Britannic  Majesty's  Government  that  the 
neutrality  of  Belgium  should  be  respected. 
His  Majesty's  Ambassador  at  Berlin  has  re- 
ceived his  passports  and  His  Majesty's  Gov- 
ernment has  declared  to  the  German  Gov- 
ernment that  a  state  of  war  exists  between 
Great  Britain  and  Germany  from  11  o'clock 
P.  M.,  Aug.  4." 


412 


STATE    PAPERS 


President  Wilson's  Tender  of  Good 
OflBces,  Made  to  Each  of  the  Rulers 
of  the  States  at  War,  August  5, 
1914 

"As  oiBcial  head  of  one  of  the  Powers  sig- 
natory to  The  Hague  Convention,  I  feel  it 
to  be  my  privilege  and  my  duty,  under  Ar- 
tide  III  of  that  Convention,  to  say  to 
you  in  a  spirit  of  most  earnest  friendship 
that  I  should  welcome  an  opportunity  to  act 
in  the  interest  of  European  peace,  either 
now  or  any  other  time  that  might  be  thought 
more  suitable,  as  an  occasion  to  serve  you 
and  all  concerned  in  a  way  that  would  afford 
me  lasting  cause  for  gratitude  and  happiness. 
"WooDEow  Wilson." 

Statement  of  the  British  Foreign  Of- 
fice Following  the  Declaration  of 
War  on  Austria-Hungary,  August 

13,  1914 

"After  having  declared  war  on  Servia  and 
having  thus  taken  the  initiative  in  the  hos- 
tilities in  Europe,  the  Austro-Hungarian 
Government  has  placed  itself,  without  any 
provocation  from  the  Government  of  the 
French  Republic,  in  a  state  of  war  with 
France;  and  after  Germany  has  successively 
declared  war  against  Russia  and  France  she 
has  intervened  in  this  conflict  by  declaring 
war  on  Russia,  who  is  already  fighting  on  the 
side  of  France. 

"According  to  information  worthy  of  be- 
lief Austria  has  sent  troops  over  the  German 
frontier  in  such  manner  as  to  constitute  a 
direct  menace  against  France.  In  the  face 
of  these  facts  the  French  Government  finds 
itself  obliged  to  declare  to  the  Austro-Hun- 
garian Government  that  it  will  take  all  meas- 
ures permitted  to  reply  to  these  acts  and 
menaces." 

Russia's  Appeal  to  the  Poles,  August 

14,  1914 

"The  hour  has  sounded  when  the  sacred 
dream  of  your  fathers  may  be  realized.  A 
hundred  and  fifty  years  ago  the  living  body 
of  Poland  was  torn  to  pieces,  but  her  soul 
survived,  and  she  lived  in  hope  that  for  the 


Polish  people  would  come  an  hour  of  regen- 
eration and  reconciliation  with  Russia. 

"The  Russian  Army  brings  you  the  solemn 
news  of  this  reconciliation,  which  effaces  the 
frontiers  severing  the  Polish  people,  whom 
it  unites  conjointly  under  the  scepter  of  the 
Czar  of  Russia.  Under  this  scepter  Poland 
will  be  born  again,  free  in  her  religion,  her 
language,   and   autonomous. 

"Russia  expects  from  you  only  the  loyalty 
to  which' history  has  bound  you.  "With  open 
heart  and  a  brotherly  hand  extended,  great 
Russia  comes  to  meet  you.  She  believes  that 
the  sword  which  struck  her  enemies  at  Grune- 
wald  is  not  yet  rusted. 

"Russia,  from  the  shores  of  the  Pacific 
Ocean  to  the  North  Sea,  marches  in  arms. 
The  dawn  of  a  new  life  begins  for  you.  In 
this  glorious  dawn  is  seen  the  sign  of  the 
Cross — the  symbol  of  sufi'ering  and  the  resur- 
rection of  a  people." 

Japan's  Ultimatum  to  Germany,  Au- 
gust 16,  1914 

"M^e  consider  it  highly  important  and  nec- 
essary in  the  present  situation  to  take  meas- 
ures to  remove  the  causes  of  all  disturbances 
of  the  peace  in  the  Far  East,  and  to  safe- 
guard the  general  interests  as  contemplated 
by  the  agreement  of  alliance  between  Japan 
and  Great  Britain. 

"In  order  to  secure  a  firm  and  enduring 
peace  in  Eastern  Asia,  the  establishment  of 
which  is  the  aim  of  said  agreement,  the  Im- 
perial Japanese  Government  sincerely  be- 
lieves it  to  be  its  duty  to  give  the  advice 
to  the  Imperial  German  Government  to  carry 
out  the   following  two  provisions: 

"First — To  withdraw  immediately  from 
Japanese  and  Chinese  waters  German  men- 
of-war  and  armed  vessels  of  all  kinds,  and 
to  disarm  at  once  those  which  cannot  be  so 
withdrawn. 

"Second — To  deliver  on  a  date  not  later 
than  September  15  to  the  Imperial  Japanese 
authorities,  without  condition  or  compensa- 
tion, the  entire  leased  territory  of  Kiao-chau, 
with  a  view  to  the  eventual  restoration  of 
the  same  to  China. 

"The  Imperial  Japanese  Government  an- 
nounces at  the  same  time  that  in  the  event 


STATE    PAPERS 


41S 


of  it  not  receiving  by  noon  on  August  24, 
1914,  an  answer  from  the  Imperial  German 
Government,  signifying  its  unconditional  ac- 
ceptance of  the  above  advice  offered  by  the 
Imperial  Japanese  Government,  Japan  will  be 
compelled  to  take  such  action  as  she  may 
deem  necessary  to  meet  the  situation." 

Japan's  Declaration  of  War  Against 
Germany,  August  24,  1914 

"We,  by  the  Grace  of  Heaven,  Emperor  of 
Japan,  seated  on  the  Throne  occupied  by  the 
same  Dynasty  from  time  immemorial,  do 
hereby  make  the  following  proclamation  to 
all  our  brave  and  loyal  subjects: 

"We  hereby  declare  war  against  Germany, 
and  We  command  our  army  and  navy  to 
carry  on  hostilities  against  that  empire  with 
all  their  strength,  and  We  also  command  all 
Our  competent  authorities  to  make  every 
effort,  in  pursuance  of  their  respective  duties, 
to  attain  the  national  aim,  by  all  the  means 
within  the  limits  of  the  law  of  nations. 

"Since  the  outbreak  of  the  present  war 
in  Europe,  the  calamitous  effects  of  which 
We  view  with  grave  concern.  We,  on  Our 
part,  have  entertained  hopes  of  preserving 
the  peace  of  the  Far  East  by  the  mainte- 
nance of  strict  neutrality.  But  the  action 
of  Germany  has  at  length  compelled  Great 
Britain,  Our  Ally,  to  open  hostilities  against 
that  country;  and  Germany  is,  at  Kiao-chau, 
its  leased  territory  in  China,  busy  with  war- 
like preparations,  while  its  armed  vessels, 
cruising  the  seas  of  eastern  Asia,  are  threat- 
ening Our  commerce  and  that  of  Our  Ally. 
The  peace  of  the  Far  East  is  thus  in  jeop- 
ardy. Accordingly,  Our  Government  and 
that  of  His  Britannic  Majesty,  after  full  and 
frank  communication  with  each  other,  agreed 
to  take  such  measures  as  may  be  necessary 
for  the  protection  of  the  general  interests 
contemplated  in  the  Agreement  of  Alliance; 
and  We,  on  Our  part,  being  desirous  to  at- 
tain that  object  by  peaceful  means,  com- 
manded Our  Government  to  offer,  with  sin- 
cerity, an  advice  to  the  Imperial  German 
Government.  By  the  last  day  appointed  for 
the  purpose,  however.  Our  Government  failed 
to  receive  an  answer  accepting  the  advice. 

"It  is  with  profound  regret  that  We,  in 


spite  of  Our  ardent  devotion  to  the  cause  of 
peace,  are  thus  compelled  to  declare  war; 
especially  at  this  early  period  of  Our  reign, 
and  while  We  are  still  in  mourning  for  Our 
lamented   Mother. 

"It  is  Our  earnest  wish  that,  by  the  valor 
and  loyalty  of  Our  faithful  subjects,  peace 
may  soon  be  restored  and  the  glory  of  the 
Empire  enhanced." 

Message  from  the  Kaiser  to  President 
Wilson,  Charging  the  Use  of  Dum- 
dum Bullets  by  the  Allies,  and  Ex- 
plaining the  Reasons  for  the  De- 
struction of  Louvain,  September  7, 
1914 

"I  consider  it  my  duty,  sir,  to  inform  you, 
as  the  most  notable  representative  of  the 
principles  of  humanity,  that  after  the  cap- 
ture of  the  French  fort  of  Longwy  my  troops 
found  in  that  place  thousands  of  dum-dum 
bullets  which  had  been  manufactured  in  spe- 
cial works  by  the  French  Government.  Such 
bullets  were  found  not  only  on  French  killed 
and  wounded  soldiers  and  on  French  pris- 
oners, but  also  on  English  troops.  You  know 
what  terrible  wounds  and  awful  suffering 
are  caused  by  these  bullets,  and  that  their 
use  is  strictly  forbidden  by  the  generally 
recognized   rules  of  international  warfare. 

"I  solemnly  protest  to  you  against  the  way 
in  which  this  war  is  being  waged  by  our  op- 
ponents, whose  methods  are  making  it  one 
of  the  most  barbarous  in  history.  Besides  the 
use  of  these  awful  weapons,  the  Belgian  Gov- 
ernment has  openly  incited  the  civil  popula- 
tion to  participate  in  the  fighting,  and  has 
for  a  long  time  carefuUy  organized  their  re- 
sistance. The  cruelties  practised  in  this 
guerilla  warfare,  even  by  women  and  priests, 
toward  wounded  soldiers  and  doctors  and 
hospital  nurses  were  such  that  eventually  my 
generals  were  compelled  to  adopt  the  strong- 
est measures  to  punish  the  guilty  and  fright- 
en the  bloodthirsty  population  from  contin- 
uing their  shameful  deeds. 

"Some  villages  and  even  the  old  town  of 
Louvain,  with  the  exception  of  its  beautiful 
town  hall  [H6tel  de  Ville],  had  to  be  de- 
stroyed for  the  protection  of  my  troops. 


414! 


CHRONOLOGICAL    LIST    OF    EVENTS 


"My  heart  bleeds  when  I  see  such  meas- 
ures inevitable,  and  when  I  think  of  the 
many  innocent  people  who  have  lost  their 
houses  and  property  as  a  result  of  the  mis- 
deeds of  the  guilty. 

"WiLHELM." 

Reply  of  President  Wilson  to  the 
Kaiser's  Message,  September  17, 
1914 

"I  received  your  imperial  Majesty's  im- 
portant communication  of  the  7th,  and  have 
read  it  with  gravest  interest  and  concern. 
I  am  honored  that  you  should  have  turned 
to  me  for  an  impartial  judgment  as  the  rep- 
resentative of  a  people  truly  disinterested 
as  respects  the  present  war  and  truly  de- 
sirous  of  knowing  and   accepting  the  truth. 

"You  will,  I  am  sure,  not  expect  me  to  say 
more.  Presently,  I  pray  God  very  soon,  the 
war  will  be  over.  The  day  of  accounting 
will  then  come  when,  I  take  it  for  granted, 
the  nations  of  Europe  will  assemble  to  deter- 


mine a  settlement.  Where  wrongs  have  been 
committed  their  consequences  and  the  rela- 
tive  responsibility  involved  will   be   assessed. 

"The  nations  of  the  world  have  fortunately 
by  agreement  made  a  plan  for  such  a  reck- 
oning and  settlement.  What  such  a  plan 
cannot  compass  the  opinion  of  mankind,  the 
final  arbiter  in  all  such  matters,  will  supply. 
It  would  be  premature  for  a  single  Govern- 
ment, however  fortimately  separated  from 
the  present  struggle,  it  would  even  be  incon- 
sistent with  the  neutral  position  of  any  na- 
tion which  like  this  has  no  part  in  the  con- 
test, to  form  or  express  a  final  judgment. 

"I  speak  thus  frankly  because  I  know  that 
you  will  expect  and  wish  me  to  do  so  as  one 
friend  should  do  to  another  and  because  I 
feel  sure  that  such  a  reservation  of  judg- 
ment until  the  end  of  the  war,  when  all  its 
events  and  circumstances  can  be  seen  in  their 
entirety  and  in  their  true  relations,  will  com- 
mend itself  to  you  as  a  true  expression  of 
sincere  neutrality. 

"WOODEOW    WiLSOK." 


CHRONOLOGICAL   LIST    OF    EVENTS 


The  following  Chronology  was  compiled  from  the  best  sources  available  at  the 
time  «f  writing;  but  on  account  of  the  strict  censorship  it  is  subject  to  modification. 
Official  reports  have  been  scanty  and  vague  as  to  dates  and  places  of  important 
operations^  and  definite  announcements  of  decisive  actions  have  often  been  delayed 
for  days.  Consequently  there  is  confusion  as  to  the  exact  sequence  of  events  and 
the  war  will  probably  be  far  advanced  before  a  strictly  accurate  account  of  its 
early  stages  can  be  given. 


1914 

June  28. — Archduke  Ferdinand,  heir  to  the 
Austrian  throne,  assassinated  in  Sara- 
jevo. 

July  23. — Austria  sends  an  ultimatum  to 
Servia. 

July  27. — Sir  Edward  Grey  proposes  an  in- 
ternational conference,  but  Austria  and 
Germany  decline. 

July  28. — Austria  declares  war  on  Servia. 

July  31. — The  Kaiser  demands  that  Russia 
discontinue  mobilization. 

August  1. — Germany  declares  war  on  Rus- 
sia.    Mobilization  begun  in  France. 


1914 

August  2. — German  forces  enter  Luxemburg, 
and  Germany  demands  that  Belgium  give 
free  passage  for  her  troops  to  the 
French  frontier.  The  demand  is  refused, 
and   Belgium   appeals  to  England. 

August  4. — England  sends  an  ultimatum  to 
Germany,  demanding  that  she  respect 
Belgian  neutrality.  Germany  refuses,  and 
begins  to  attack  Lifege.  She  declares 
war  on  France. — President  Wilson  issues 
a  proclamation  of  neutrality,  and  ten- 
ders the  good  offices  of  the  United  States 
to  the  nations  at  war. 


CHRONOLOGICAL    LIST    OF    EVENTS 


415 


1914 

August  5. — England  proclaims  a  state  of 
war  with  Germany.  Lord  Kitchener  is 
appointed  Secretary  of  State  for  War. — 
German  mine-layer  "Koenigin  Luise" 
sunk  by  British  cruiser  "Amphion." 

August  6. — Austria  declares  war  on  Russia. 
German  warships  drive  the  Russian  fleet 
from  the  western  part  of  the  Baltic. — 
British  cruiser  "Amphion"  sunk  by  mine 
in  North  Sea. 

August  7. — German  troops  enter  Liege. — The 
French  invade  Alsace. 

August  8. — Montenegro  declares  war  on 
Austria.  Portugal  declares  that  she  is 
an  ally  of  Great  Britain.  Italy  pro- 
claims her  neutrality.  Austrian  troops 
sent  to  the  assistance  of  the  Germans, 
and. British  troops  to  assist  the  French. 

August  10. — France  proclaims  a  state  of 
war  with  Austria. 

August  13. — England  declares  war  on  Aus- 
tria.— German  cruisers  "Goeben"  and 
"Breslau"  take  refuge  in  Constantinople. 

August  15. — Japan  sends  an  ultimatum  to 
Germany,  demanding  evacuation  of  Kiao- 
chau  in  China. 

August  17. — English  forces  begin  landing  in 
France.  Belgian  capital  removed  from 
Brussels  to  Antwerp. 

August  20. — Belgian  army  retreats  to  Ant- 
werp and  German  forces  enter  Brussels. 
Russians  occupy  Gumbinnen.  Servians 
defeat  Austrians  at  Loznitza. 

August  21. — French  forces  withdraw  from 
Lorraine. — The  Germans  begin  the  in- 
vestment of  Namur. 

August  23. — Allied  forces  fall  back  to 
French  frontier.  Austria  discontinues 
military  operations  against  Servia.  Ja- 
pan declares  war  on  Germany. 

August  24. — German  air-ship  drops  bombs 
into  Antwerp,  killing  or  wounding  many 
persons. — British  driven  out  of  Mons. 

August  25. — Austria  declares  war  on  Japan. 
— Germans  reduce  five  of  the  nine  forts 
protecting  Namur. 

August  26. — French  cabinet  resigns,  and  a 
new  non-partisan  cabinet  is  formed. 
Germans  destroy  Louvain,  in  revenge  for 
alleged  hostilities  by  the  citizens.  British 
take  possession  of  the  German  colony  of 


1914 

Togoland  in  West  Africa.  The  British 
cruiser  "Highflyer"  sinks  the  "Kaiser 
Wilhelm  der  Grosse." 

August  27. — Japanese  blockade  Tsing-Tau. 
— Russians  capture  Tilsit. 

August  28. — French  forces  withdraw  from 
Alsace. — British  cruiser  squadron  near 
Helgoland  sinks  three  German  cruisers 
and  two  destroyers. 

August  29. — British  expedition  from  New 
Zealand  captures  Germany's  share  of  the 
Samoan  Islands.  Germans  capture  La 
F^re. 

August  30. — Germans  occupy  Amiens. — Von 
Hindenberg  defeats  Russians  under  Ren- 
nenkampf  in  East  Prussia. 

September  1. — Name  of  St.  Petersburg 
changed  to  Petrograd. — Army  of  General 
Von  Kluck  reaches  Senlis,  its  nearest 
point  to  Paris,  while  his  outposts  come 
in  touch  with  the  outer  forts  of  the  cap- 
ital. Russians  at  the  end  of  a  week's 
fighting  defeat  Austrians  at  Lemberg, 
and  claim  the  capture  of  82,000  pris- 
oners. 

September  2. — Japanese  forces  sent  against 
Kiao-chau  land   at  Lung-kow. 

September  3. — Von  Kluck  swings  southward 
to  Meaux. — Rheims  taken  by  the  Ger- 
mans.— -Bordeaux  becomes  the  temporary 
capital  of  France. — Russians  enter  Lem- 
berg. 

September  4. — Germans  advance  from  Brus- 
sels and  occupy  Ghent  and  Termonde. 

September  5. — Great  Britain,  France  and 
Russia  sign  an  agreement  not  to  make 
peace  with  the  enemy  except  by  common 
consent. — British  cruiser  "Pathfinder" 
sunk  by  German  submarine. 

September  6. — French  push  back  German 
right  near  Compi^gne. — Army  under  the 
Duke  of  Wiirttemberg  begins  a  series  of 
assaults  on  the  French  position  between 
La   Fere  and  Vitry-le-Fran?ois. 

September  7. — Von  Kluck's  army  forced 
back  still  further  from  the  Marne,  neces- 
sitating a  retreat  of  Von  Billow's  army 
upon  his  left. — Maubeuge  taken  by  Ger- 
mans after  a  bombardment  beginning 
August  26. — Austrian  left  wing  defeated 
with  heavy  loss  at  Ravarusska. 


416 


CHRONOLOGICAL    LIST    OF    EVENTS 


1914 

September  8. — Allies  deliver  fierce  attack 
against  armies  of  Von  Kluck  and  Von 
Biilow. 

September  9. — Von  Kluck,  hard  pressed,  es- 
capes toward  Soissons. 

September  10. — German  armies  on  the  right 
in  full  retreat,  while  the  Crown  Prince 
delivers  counter  attack  at  Revigny. — Ser- 
vians capture  Semlin. 

September  11.— Entire  German  army  falls 
back  to  strong  defensive  positions,  heavy 
rains  impeding  operations  on  both  sides. 
— Australian  expedition  seizes  Bismarck 
Archipelago  and  Solomon  Islands. 

September  12. — Army  under  the  Crown 
Prince  of  Bavaria  retires  into  Lorraine 
after  an  unsuccessful  attack  upon 
Nancy. 

September  13. — British  submarine  "E-9" 
sinks  German  cruiser  "Hela." 

September  14. — Allied  army  crosses  theAisne 
and  reoccupies  Rheims. — Belgian  army 
sallies  forth  from  Antwerp  as  far  as 
Malines  and  Louvain. 

September  16. — Belgian  Commissioners  sent 
to  Washington  to  protest  against  the  de- 
struction of  Louvain  and  other  alleged 
German  atrocities  received  by  President 
Wilson. 

September  17. — Servians  retire  from  Semlin. 

September  18. — Rheims  Cathedral  wrecked 
by  German  shells. 

September  20. — British  cruiser  "Pegasus" 
surprised  in  Zanzibar  harbor  by  German 
cruiser    "Koenigsberg"    and    destroyed. 

September  22. — Russians  capture  Jaroslav 
and  invest  fortress  of  Przemysl. — British 
armored  cruisers  "Aboukir,"  "Hogue" 
and  "Cressy"  torpedoed  and  sunk  by 
German  submarine  "U-9"  with  a  loss  of 
about  60  oflBcers  and  1,400  men. 

September  23. — French  carry  Peronne  by 
storm. 

September  24. — Zeppelin  drops  bombs  at 
Ostend,  inflicting  slight  damage. — Out- 
break of  Asiatic  cholera  among  Austrian 
troops  admitted  in  Vienna. — Germans  try 
unsuccessfully  to  land  forces  from  trans- 
ports at  Windau  on  the  Russian  Baltic 
coast. 


1914 

September  25. — German  army  under  Von 
Hindenberg  forces  the  Russians  back  as 
far  as  the  Niemen. — Montenegrin  troops 
enter  Mostar. 

Septesiber  26. — British  Indian  troops  land  at 
Marseilles. — Outer  forts  of  Antwerp  at- 
tacked by  Germans. 

September  28. — Passes  over  the  Carpathian 
Mountains  into  Hungary  occupied  by 
Russian  advance  troops. 

September  29. — Allies  hotly  attacked  by  Ger- 
mans at  Noyon. — French  make  forward 
movement  between  Toul  and  Verdun. 

October  1. — Heavy  fighting  north  of  Cracow, 

October  3. — Russians  state  that  the  battle  of 
Augustowo,  in  progress  for  a  week,  has 
ended  in  the  complete  rout  of  Germans, 
and  their  retreat  to  the  Prussian  fron- 
tier. Russians  reach  valley  of  the  Magy 
in  Hungary. 

October  4. — Berlin  admits  an  outbreak  of 
cholera  among  German  troops,  but  says 
there  is  no  danger  of  an  epidemic. — The 
flanking  movement  of  the  Allies  against 
the  German  right  still  continues  without 
decisive  results.  Slight  advances  on  their 
right  flank  claimed  by  French. — Several 
forts  taken  and  Termonde  occupied  by 
German  forces  besieging  Antwerp. — 
Prayers  for  peace  and  special  services 
held  in  churches  of  all  denominations  in 
the  United  States  in  conformity  with  the 
proclamation  of  President  Wilson. 

October  8. — The  situation  along  the  battle 
line  in  France  is  reported  as  stationary. 
In  the  north  the  right  wing  of  the  Ger- 
mans and  the  left  wing  of  the  Allies 
have  been  extended  beyond  Lille,  almost 
as  far  as  the  North  Sea. — The  Germans 
claim  that  the  outer  forts  of  Antwerp 
have  been  reduced,  that  the  inner  line  is 
weakening. 

October  9. — Antwerp  occupied  by  Germans. — 
The  Russian  War  Office  announces  that 
Russia  has  conquered  and  occupied  39,000 
square  miles  of  Austrian  territory.  The 
Germans  and  Austrians  have  joined 
forces  in  Southwestern  Poland,  and  are 
obstinately  opposing  the  advance  of  the 
Russians  toward  Breslau  and  Cracow. 


921585 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  UBRARY 


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